India crushed the hosts New Zealand in the first One-Day-International (ODI) at Napier.
The men in blue chased down the target of 156 with eight wickets to spare in the 34.5 overs. An unusual interruption halted the play for close to half an hour. As bizarre as it may sound, the setting sun made it difficult to spot the ball.
After the delay the controversial Duckworth-Lewis method was used to revise the total to 156 runs off 49 overs. Opener Rohit Sharma lost focus after the weird interruption, Captain Kohli and Dhawan took it to themselves. Virat Kohli ended 5 runs short of a ODI fifty.
Shikhar Dhawan top-scored for India, he got 75 runs off 103 balls.
The New Zealand batsmen crumbled before the Indian bowling lineup. Apart from captain Kane Williamson who also top scored for the hosts with 64 runs off 81 balls, none were able to partner for a bigger innings.
India’s Kuldeep Yadav sported most successful figures of 4/39 in his 10 overs of bowling, seamer Mohammed Shami finished with 3/19 in six overs and leg spinner Chahal picked up two wickets.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in a statement has announced that Kohli will be rested for the last two ODI’s and the entire T20 series against New Zealand. The BCCI statement reads –
“India captain Virat Kohli will be rested for the fourth and fifth ODI against New Zealand and the subsequent T20I series. Considering his workload in the last few months, the team management and Senior selection committee is of the view that it would be ideal for him to get adequate rest ahead of the home series against Australia. There will be no replacement for Mr. Kohli in the squad for the New Zealand series. Rohit Sharma will captain the side in the final two ODIs and T20I series”