Virat Kohli headlines India’s comprehensive win against New Zealand in Auckland

India got off to a roaring start in the ODI series against New Zealand, beating them comprehensively in a rain-curtailed encounter. The Men in Blue faced a new challenge with Auckland's bizarre dimensions proving to be a significant conundrum to brave.

Winning the toss, India opted to bowl first. Showers ahead of the game also played a crucial role in Gill choosing to bowl. The Indian bowlers quickly took control, with Arshdeep Singh administering a double whammy. He claimed the crucial scalps of Will Young (9) and Henry Nicholls (9).

Tim Seifert (38) and Daryll Mitchell (28) began to overhaul the Kiwi innings. The two added 33 runs for the third wicket before Gurnoor Brar sent Seifert packing. With Seifert's fall, India pried open the floodgates, and New Zealand lost their next six wickets for 73 runs, reducing them to 146/9.

Tom Latham (3), Daryll Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (4), Nathan Smith (1), Kyle Jamieson (1) and Glenn Phillips (30) embarked upon a parade of woe. New Zealand found some late resurgence through Jacob Duffy (15) and Blair Tickner (34), who added 39 runs for the final stand. India bowled out New Zealand for 185 from 40.2 overs.

Arshdeep Singh conceded a few runs but led the charge with a four-fer. Gurnoor Brar claimed three wickets while Anshul Kamboj was sensational with figures of 10-2-22-2.

India received a rude awakening when Rohit Sharma headed back to the pavilion for a duck. However, the Men in Blue quickly regained control with Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli stepping up to the task. Gill (37) and Kohli dominated, adding 113 runs for the second wicket.

There was a rain interruption in the middle, eventually forcing officials to reduce the game to 40 overs with a revised target of 143. After the game restarted, Kohli hit another gear while the Indian captain, Shubman Gill was happy to anchor the innings. Nathan Smith eventually removed Gill to break the stand.

Kohli brought up his 80th ODI fifty, pulling Blair Tickner on the first ball of the 16th over as the crowd in Auckland went berserk. He eventually succumbed to Duffy, falling for 74 off 51. Kohli also became the first batter to rack up 13,000 ODI runs while batting at No. 3. He is now the second-highest run-getter in that position, behind Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of 13,685 runs at No. 2.

The fall of Virat Kohli saw India drop momentum as they lost four wickets in a span of 22 runs. Following the trail of Gill and Kohli, Axar Patel (0) and Shreyas Iyer (15) went back to the pavilion in quick succession. However, that didn’t hamper India’s chase as they reached the finish line with five wickets and 56 balls to spare. Anshul Kamboj bagged the Player of the Match for his sensational bowling spell.