New Zealand beat India by 7 wickets in the first ODI at Auckland. Tom Latham scored a match-winning century that led the team to a perfect victory.
India is touring New Zealand for a series of 3 T20s and as many ODIs. After clinching the rain-hit T20 series, India stepped on the field for the first ODI. Indian spped gun Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh made their ODI debuts. India batted first and openers set the tone of the innings. Shikhar and Gil form a 127-run opening partnership.
Following that, Shreyas Iyer took over and scored 80 runs off 76 deliveries. Washington Sudar’s last-minute hard-hitting propelled India to a total of 306. The total once looked par on the surface. However, that proved not to be enough at the end.
Tom Latham and Kane Williamson anchored New Zealand’s innings
New Zealand stumbled in the chase. They lost quick wickets in under 15 overs. The Black Caps were struggling in the chase after being 3 down for 88 runs in 20 overs. Then arrived Tom Latham. Tom was off to a steady start. He took his time to settle in and played safely against the speed gun Umran Malik. The skipper, Kane Williamson, was in the supporting role.
They started attacking in the middle overs. Tom Latham took on the spinners and then the pacers. He even went on to attack India’s best bowler of the day, Umran Malik at the end. Latham single-handedly ruined Umran’s figures.
Tom Latham and Kane Williamson did not lose their wickets and built a record-breaking partnership of over 200 runs. Tom finished with an unbeaten 145 runs from 104 balls. His partner, Williamson, missed out on his century by 6 runs. He finished off with an unbeaten 94 off 98 deliveries. New Zealand chased down the total in the 48th over of the match.
New Zealand is now leading the 3-match ODI series by 1-0.
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