India v New Zealand, 1st ODI, Mumbai: Who Said What

New Zealand defeated India by six wickets in the first of the three-match ODI series in Mumbai at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. Very few had given them a chance of winning the game after India had posted 280 runs after winning the toss on a slow wicket. But as the evening progressed the Kiwis kept their cool and romped home in a canter and surprised everyone by taking the lead of 1-0 going into the second match in Pune.

Trent Boult rocked India early as the openers were sent back to the hut early and soon Kedar Jadhav followed the suit which reduced the hosts to 71/3 in the 16th over. Someone had to build an innings of substance for India to post a decent total on the board. The Indian skipper Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik then started to rebuild and tried to put the pressure on the Kiwis. But the latter threw his wicket away after getting settled. But Kohli was unperturbed as he kept finding the gaps.

Soon he reached his 31st century which helped India soar to a more than competitive total of 280/8 in their 50 overs. Kohli scored a stupendous 121 runs off just 125 deliveries with 9 fours and a couple of magnificent sixes. In reply, New Zealand too were shaky at the start but the openers held their nerve and denied India a wicket. But 3 wickets fell quickly and they were reduced to 80/3 in the 18th over. Then came a rearguard action from Tom Latham and Ross Taylor who took the match deep and made sure the team goes over the line.

Both of them played the spinners really well and batted them out of the game. Tom Latham was more swift of the two and was innovative in his shot making. He brought up his century off just 95 balls and justified the decision of drafting him down the order. Taylor proved his worth as an experienced player and was dismissed only when a solitary run was required. The duo added a record stand of 200 runs for the fourth wicket and scripted a famous win for the Black Caps.

Tom Latham

Latham was satisfied with his performance and reiterated time and again that the communication between the two was extremely important.

“It was pretty humid out there. Keeping for 50 overs and then batting is pretty tough. Conditions back home are pretty different, so nice to see it through. Whatever suits the team, and at the moment that No. 5 position is up for grabs. It’s something I’ve been working on – the reverse sweep. Nice that it came off today. The biggest thing is communication, and we were talking regularly between overs. Ross had a calming influence as a senior player.”

Virat Kohli

Kohli applauded the efforts of the Kiwi bowlers along with Taylor and Latham. He also said that if someone had stitched a partnership with him India would have added 40 runs more. However, he said that they felt 280 was enough at the halfway stage.

“On a personal note, the knock was pretty satisfying purely because of the fact that NZ put us under pressure initially. 275+ was good on that wicket, but NZ batted really well in the second half. Ross and Tom were outstanding, they deserved to win today. When you get a 200-run partnership in ODI cricket, more often than not you end up on the winning side. Putting the dew into perspective in the last 13-14 overs, we were definitely about 30-40 runs short. In the second half, the wicket settled down nicely. Would have liked to have a better batting performance. However, from where we were, 280 was a competitive score, and we got three wickets as well. But they closed the doors on us. They tackled our spinners really well. They picked their areas. Credit to them. Tom especially. Enjoyed watching him. Not many games in international cricket but he showed a lot of character. Trent also bowled really well. The wicket had enough bounce and turn. If the game had drifted away from us earlier, we could have brought Kedar in. But Hardik did a pretty good job for us, and we didn’t feel the need.”

Kane Williamson

Kane Williamson was cool as the ice and looked happy after the famous win. He lauded the efforts of Boult, Latham and Taylor.

“Brilliant performance. The way we set the tone with the new ball was outstanding. We stuck it out well throughout that innings. Great hundred from Virat, becoming fairly normal. And then to see a partnership like that.. one of the best chases I’ve seen during my time in the Black Caps. The bowling performance in this humidity was a great effort and the lads stuck to the task. The way Tom and Ross controlled the innings was superb. 200-run partnership was a special, special partnership. You want to take the game deep over here. There were still a few more batsmen in the shed. A great team performance today. Very challenging weather. Have been here for close to two weeks now. Guys had a great attitude, stuck to the task well.”