Auckland: A young pace unit headlined by the imposing Gurnoor Brar scarred New Zealand with disconcerting bounce before Virat Kohli decided to celebrate his 38th birthday a day in advance by striking a chiselled 74 as India earned an easy five-wicket win in the rain-curtailed first ODI here Wednesday.
The 6 feet 5 inches tall Gurnoor repaid skipper Shubman Gill’s faith by intimidating the home batters with his speed and bounce in the company of Arshdeep Singh as the visitors dismissed the Black Caps for a below-par 185 in 40.2 overs.
India reached the revised target of 143 in 22.4 overs with Kohli’s 51-ball knock, comprising 13 boundaries and a maximum, doing bulk of the damage.
With India’s first-choice troika of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna not available due to workload management and injury-related issues, it was the Punjab duo of Arshdeep (4/70 in 10 overs) and Gurnoor (3/44 in 9.2 overs), which took up the mantle of unsettling the Black Caps.
The unusually short and straight dimensions of the ground do create issues, but Arshdeep hit the perfect length, bowling to the field with relentless accuracy.
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Anshul Kamboj (2/22 in 10 overs) was also superbly steady during middle overs, something that will make head coach Gautam Gambhir proud of his punt to go in with three literal greenhorns. He bowled an eye-popping 46 dot balls in his 10-over spell.
In pursuit of the modest target, Kohli’s controlled aggression made all the difference for India after the early fall of Rohit Sharma (0).
Despite multiple rain interruptions, Kohli’s intensity was unwavering as he played his customary cover drives, the whips through mid-wicket and the imperious pull-shots — both short arm and also over the top.
The Indian maestro, who will turn 38 on Thursday, hit his 80th ODI half-century in the company of Gill (37), who played the second fiddle to perfection.
They added 113 for the second wicket after Rohit was dismissed for a six-ball duck.
The best shot that Kohli hit was certainly when he stood upright and punched Blair Tickner through the covers. Kohli decided to ‘tick off’ Tickner in his special style with a plethora of boundaries. The supple wrists were at work and the crowd went back home happy.
However, the story of the day was India’s four-pronged pace attack with a cumulative experience of 29 ODIs that made life miserable for the home team on a good batting surface and straight boundaries.
Arshdeep got a couple of wickets inside the powerplay as New Zealand managed just 45 for 2 in the first 10 overs and the tone was set.
Gill introduced Gurnoor after the field restrictions were eased and the big-bodied Chandigarh lad repeatedly challenged the batters with his back-of-length deliveries.
He got a couple of wickets, including a sharp reflex return catch to send back Test skipper Tom Latham. At the halfway stage, New Zealand were staring down the barrel at 109 for 5.
Auqib Nabi was the unlucky one when Tim Seifert (38 off 43 balls) offered a regulation catch to Naman Dhir at mid-wicket but he bungled it.
It was Will Young (9), who was first to be dismissed as Arshdeep slightly shortened the length. The ball got big on the batter as he skied an attempted pull shot with Shreyas Iyer completing the formalities.
Henry Nicholls (9) didn’t look too comfortable and he also couldn’t connect an attempted pull shot and this time, Dhir did not make any mistake.
Seifert, who was coming off a century in the last T20I, did hit a ramp shot off Nabi behind the keeper for a six and also lofted Gurnoor when he went a touch fuller but he didn’t look in good nick either.
It was a short ball from Gurnoor that Seifert mis-timed as substitute Ruturaj Gaikwad held onto a dolly at mid-on.
Gurnoor then dismissed the dependable Tom Latham as he tried to check his uppish drive and the return catch stuck to the bowler’s outstretched left palm. He was on his follow-through, and it was a brilliant reflex effort by Gurnoor.
Once four wickets were gone, it was very easy to put New Zealand on the back foot. The in-form pair of Daryl Mitchell (28) and Glenn Phillips (30) were expected to resurrect the crumbling innings.
But Rohit Sharma’s alertness and KL Rahul’s quick glove-work saw the back of Mitchell as he and Phillips attempted a quick single.
With half of the New Zealand team back in the hut for less than 100 on a good batting surface, Kamboj added to the pressure by raising the dot ball volumes and getting his share of breakthroughs while doing so.
Skipper Mitchell Santner was played on and Virat Kohli took an absolute stunner at second slip to get rid of Nathan Smith.
Tickner then chanced his arms, striking three sixes off Arshdeep’s last over, to get the home team past the 180-run mark.
