Latham, Taylor spoil Virat Kohli's party as New Zealand beat India in Wankhede ODI
Mumbai: Virat Kohli scored his 31st ODI hundred in his 200th ODI to sail past Ricky Ponting, but Ross Taylor (95 off 100) and Tom Latham (103* off 102) spoiled Kohli’s party as Kane Williamson-led New Zealand beat India by six wickets at the Wankhede Stadium here on Sunday and took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
India failed to cash in on Kohli’s decision to bat first as Trent Boult (4/35) troubled the Indian batsmen with pace and swing as Shikhar Dhawan (9 off 12) and Rohit Sharma (20 off 18) perished cheaply.
While the southpaw got out poking one to wicketkeeper Tom Latham, Rohit’s rush of blood done him in. However, Kohli (121 off 125 balls) – playing his 200th ODI – managed to hold his shape and made the most of the Mitchell Santner drop to score his 31st ODI hundred.
Kohli was clearly the star of the Indian innings and his partnerships – 73 with Dinesh Karthik (37 off 47) and 57 with MS Dhoni (25 off 42) made sure India did not suffer middle-order collapse.
While Hardik Pandya (16 off 16) failed to score big, Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s 15-ball 26-run cameo in the closing stages of the innings helped India post a respectable 280 on the board.
The New Zealand openers Martin Guptill (32 off 48) and Colin Munro (28 off 35) did not set the stage on fire. But the two provided a solid start to the Kiwi innings before Jasprit Bumrah dismissed the left-hander as Karthik took a neat catch.
India managed to dismiss captain Kane Williamson (6 off 8) cheaply as he mistimed one off Kuldeep Yadav to give an easy catch to Kedar Jadhav at covers. Karthik was once again in action as he took a fine running catch to end Guptill’s innings.
New Zealand were reduced to 80/3 from 48/0 as India looked to run through the Black Caps’ middle-order. However, Taylor and Latham halted the India’s charge before eventually spoiling Kohli’s party.
The two did not attack from the word go, but managed to keep the scoreboard ticking. While Taylor brought in all his experience, Latham did no harm to his reputation of being one of the finest young talents from the Kiwi side.
The duo put up a 200-run stand as Latham brought up his 5th ODI ton while Taylor fell 6 runs short of his 18th hundred in the fifty-overs cricket before Henry Nicholls (4 off 1) hit the winning runs to seal the New Zealand win on the final ball of the 49th over.
