Twitter Reactions: Shreyas Iyer's maiden ODI ton and KL Rahul's 88* help India post a mammoth total of 347

Rahul missed out on a well-deserved ton as he remained unbeaten on 88 off just 64 balls.

By Aditya Gajanan Kukalyekar verified

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Shreyas Iyer
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Shreyas Iyer. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

After blanking New Zealand in the T20I series, India locked horns with them in the first of the three-match ODI series at the Seddon Park in Hamilton. The hosts opted to field first after winning the toss and the visitors continued to show their batting prowess on the tour. This time it was Shreyas Iyer who notched up his maiden international century and he was accompanied by KL Rahul as India posted a mammoth total of 347 runs after 50 overs.

The debutants, Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal opened the innings for the Men in Blue. It took a little bit of time for the duo, especially the former, to get hold of the surface. But once they were settled, both the batsmen played some gorgeous shots putting up an exhibition of the talent they possess. They added 50 runs for the opening wicket in just eight overs.

They had got off to a start and had a chance to make it big. But Colin de Grandhomme had other ideas. He nipped out Shaw in his very first over to draw the first blood after which Tim Southee, not with his best delivery, sent back Agarwal. Suddenly, India were 54/2 in the ninth over and needed their skipper Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer to rebuild the innings.

The duo did the same rotating the strike without much fuss. Kohli undoubtedly was at his best taking the toll on the bowlers after spending some time in the middle. Iyer though took his time early on and at one stage, was on 11 off 27 deliveries. But the Mumbai lad didn’t throw his wicket away and kept his cool. Meanwhile, the Indian captain got to his 58th ODI half-century and looked set for another ton.

The century partnership between the two batsmen also came up and things were looking ominous for New Zealand. But Ish Sodhi came into the attack and yet again, Kohli got out to leg-spinner failing to read the googly which sneaked past his defence and disturb the sticks.

Iyer and Rahul control the proceedings for India

India were in a good position at 156/3 in the 29th over and from there on, Iyer took control of the proceedings even as KL Rahul got going soon. The latter’s last innings at number five had yielded 89* runs and he once again looked good in his new role. Both the batsmen targetted short boundaries hitting sixes at will. Though one would say that Iyer was lucky on the day being dropped thrice and he made the Kiwis pay for their mistakes.

The Delhi Capitals skipper reached his first three-figure mark in international cricket as the fourth-wicket stand flourished. Rahul and Iyer stitched 136 runs together in just 101 deliveries. The latter got out soon after reaching his ton but even then Rahul continued playing his shots. It seemed as if he will also get to his century but unfortunately couldn’t get much of a strike in the last three overs.

Kedar Jadhav didn’t do a bad job either taking Tim Southee to the cleaners and ended unbeaten on 26 off just 15 deliveries. India finished on 347 runs for the loss of four wickets with Rahul not out on 88 off just 64 balls hitting three fours and six maximums.

For New Zealand, Southee picked two wickets but conceded 85 runs while Hamish Bennett was taken apart for 77 runs in his 10 overs. The hosts who are without Kane Williamson will have to bat out of their skins now to have any chance of chasing down the huge total.

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