India wins 1st ODI against Newzealand in Gauwhati | India won the match

India 276 (49 ov)

New Zealand 236/10 (45.2 ov)

India won by 40 runs

India maintained a fair amount of control in the first half of their defence of 276. Martin Guptill made a flowing start to the chase, but the slowness of the pitch and the accuracy of the Indian bowlers kept a lid on the scoring once the openers were dismissed. The 67-run unbeaten partnership between Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson promised to take the game towards a close finish.

Guptill started with typical beautiful drives down the ground, hitting five boundaries in the first six overs, which prompted the new-ball bowlers to change their lengths and their pace. Ashish Nehra was rewarded with Jamie How’s wicket to one that got a bit big at the batsman. Gautam Gambhir, captaining India for the first time, introduced R Ashwin early, and the bowler delivered. He extracted turn, and also bowled the carrom ball effectively. He beat Guptill in the flight, getting him to hit straight to the deep fielder, and then India found they could bowl to areas they wanted to.

The accurate Munaf Patel, and the spinners – Ashwin and Yuvraj Singh – hardly bowled a bad ball in the next 15 overs. When Munaf bowled five straight dot balls to Taylor in the 13th over, the asking rate crossed six an over. The amount of turn Yuvraj extracted was of serious concern for New Zealand, who went through a spell of six overs for eight runs.

Even as Yuvraj troubled Taylor and Kane Williamson with turn, Yusuf Pathan was not allowed to settle into a rhythm. Taylor welcomed him back-to-back sixes in the 23rd over – a pull and a slog-sweep – to get the first boundary in 12 overs, and also important momentum.

India 276 (Kohli 105, McKay 4-62, Mills 3-42) v New Zealand

Virat Kohli drives en route to his second conseuctive ODI century, India v New Zealand, 1st ODI, Guwahati, November 28, 2010
Virat Kohli made his second successive century © AFP
Enlarge

Virat Kohli’s first century batting first combined well with short stays from the other batsmen, taking India to the third-highest total at the Nehru Stadium in Guwahati, 36 more than the highest successful chase here. The Batting Powerplay, though, continued to be the jack in the box: Kohli and Suresh Raina felt obliged to hit when they opted for it in the 41st over, unnatural shots surfaced, and India lost the last six wickets for 26, adding only 58 to their score after 40 overs.

The pitch had little of the early-morning demons it is famous for, and all the batsmen got starts on what was mostly a friendly surface. Kohli wasn’t as flashy as the others, but only he converted the start going on to his second century in a row and fourth overall. Not flashy didn’t equate to not quick in his case. Just that he hit only 10 boundaries in his 104, as opposed to Yuvraj Singh’s seven in 42, Gautam Gambhir’s six in 38, and Murali Vijay’s five in 29. And Kohli ran hard. And he placed the ball well, creating opportunities to run hard.

It took Vijay and Gambhir a couple of overs of caution to realise this was an easier pitch than the one that had them at 27 for 5 in the last ODI here. Vijay started off by cover-driving what was called a no-ball for four, and then pulling the resultant free-hit for another. Gambhir matched him in aggression, charging at the bowlers, creating his own driving length, and getting two fours off Daryl Tuffey in the sixth over.

Inexplicably, though, Vijay switched from classical shots to a slog that ended his knock in the eight over, with the score at 44. Eight overs later Gambhir flirted with what would have been called a wide, and perished with India 92 for 2.

Yuvraj took time getting started. India’s run-rate dipped below six as he scored seven off the first 28 balls he faced. Then he started timing well, hitting seven crunchy boundaries in no time at all. By the time he fell to Daryl Tuffey’s remarkable knack of picking up wickets in the first overs of new spells, India were 179 in the 35th over. Unnoticed, Kohli had reached 63 off 73.

Unlike the others, Kohli didn’t need periods of dramatic acceleration, nor did he need time to settle in. The only hiccup was the big shout for an inside edge from Kyle Mills. There was a sound, but no deviation. If we were not sure after watching replays, it is fair to assume the umpire couldn’t have been either.

Soon Kohli started finding gaps, using his wrists to play into the on side. The pull to cow corner off deliveries not really short, remained his favourite shot, getting four of his boundaries. Upon Yuvraj’s dismissal, he did take charge, but didn’t seem to make any drastic change, getting 42 off the last 31 balls he faced.

Kohli hit two boundaries in the 90s. The Powerplay had been taken, and it had to be made use of. The celebration upon reaching the century was representative of the growth of Kohli the batsman. There was no anger in his reaction on making the landmark, unlike in the past. He just had the smile on, enjoying the moment, more sure of his place. That the century would come seemed just as sure.

Andy McKay and Kyle Mills, though, were fantastic in the Powerplay, bowling the slower bouncers – and the quicker ones – well. McKay, in particular, got the ball to leave the right-hand batsmen from round the stumps. Consequently India kept losing wickets, and only Yusuf Pathan’s 29 off 19 gave them some impetus in the end.

SOURCE: cricinfo