NZ v IND, 1st ODI, 2022-23: Latham's belligerent 145*, Williamson's steady 94* take NZ home

New Zealand vs India, 1st ODI, Top Performances: Tom Latham-Kane Williamson's 221-run stand, Shikhar Dhawan-Shubman Gill's 124-run stand and Lockie Ferguson's 3-59 are top performances. New Zealand beat India in 1st ODI and lead series by 1-0.

Latham-Williamson's 221-run stand help New Zealand beat India (Source: ©Getty Images)

Brief Scores: New Zealand 309/3 (Latham 145*, Williamson 94*, Malik 2/66) beat India 306/7 (Iyer 80, Dhawan 72, Ferguson 3/59) by seven wickets

Player of the Match: Tom Latham - 145*(104)

After a rain-affected three-match T20I series where visitors India earned the series by a 1-0 margin against hosts New Zealand, both teams with an aim of preparing for the upcoming ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023 locked horns for the first of the three-match ODI series at the Eden Park in Auckland on Friday.

In New Zealand, India have won just two bilateral One Day International (ODI) series while the Blackcaps have won 5 series; two bilateral series have ended as drawn between these sides in the southern hemisphere.

Lack of wicket-taking bowlers and poor fielding cost India another game

It seemed to be the same story for India as has been of late irrespective of format, as their bowlers weren’t able to keep the pressure on the opponents for longer periods and the lack of wicket-taking bowlers meant that the set batters from the opponent sides were never out of the game in any phase.

This issue was aggravated by some poor fielding which too translated into pressure easing off on the batters as they were able to change strike comfortably, and ended up getting some easy boundaries in the process. With the next ODI world Cup in less than a year from now, those departments need to be sorted out soon.

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India bowlers have no answer against some fiery batting from New Zealand, particularly Tom Latham

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson on winning the toss opted to take the field on a good-looking batting surface. India presented two debut caps to the pace duo - Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh - while New Zealand added Adam Milne in the playing eleven as James Neesham was suffering from a slight niggle ahead of the fixture.

The opening duo of Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill put up a solid 124-run partnership, with Gill managing his fourth ODI half-century, while Dhawan notched up his 39th fifty before New Zealand fought back hard with wickets at regular intervals to restrict India to 210/4 in 40 overs. But with some dynamic quickfire knocks from Shreyas Iyer (80 off 76), Sanju Samson (36 off 38) and Washington Sundar (37 off 16) propelled India to 306/7 from their allotted 50 overs.

Chasing 307, New Zealand didn’t have a great start as they were restricted to 68/2 in the 16th over, before they lost Daryl Mitchell to see themselves at 88/3 in 19.5 overs. But the unstoppable partnership between captain Kane Williamson and Tom Latham who took on the bowlers from ball one, rescued them. With an unbeaten 221-run stand, the duo took New Zealand over the line with 17 balls to spare and seven wickets in hand.

This is just the second time New Zealand have chased a 300+ total against India. With 13 wins, they now have the most successive victories at home in ODIs.

Let’s scan the top three performances between New Zealand and India from the first ODI at Eden Park in 2022.

Latham's 145 off 104 helps New Zealand beat India (Source: ©Getty Images)

Latham-Williamson mammoth unbeaten 221-run stand stuns India

Chasing a score of 307, the hosts were under a little pressure with three wickets down for just 88 inside 20 overs, when Tom Latham walked in the middle. But with the short boundaries at Eden Park, Latham could make full use of his sheer power and did he do that with ease.

Latham began with a beautiful boundary against Yuzvendra Chahal swept to the fine leg fence, before cracking debutant Umran Malik for two back-to-back boundaries in the third man and square third man region respectively. He kept on sweeping Washington Sundar for boundaries in the deep backward square leg region.

Latham who has been a successful middle order batter for New Zealand in the 50-over games, crunched a boundary against Umran Malik, before smashing the speedster for a six that was pulled over fine leg; he celebrated his fifty in 51 balls, before picking up another six against Arshdeep Singh over deep backward square.

Williamson too was supporting Latham from the other end. With singles and doubles, he kept on changing the strike besides hitting a few good shots to register his 40th ODI fifty in just 54 balls. But his left-handed partner seemed to be batting on a different surface altogether.

Latham took on Shardul Thakur in the 40th over; he began the over with a six nailed over deep backward square before punishing him for three back-to-back boundaries, one was cracked at the mid-wicket boundary while the next couple of fours were slashed over short fine and behind square. With a single, Tom Latham notched up his seventh ODI century in just 76 balls.

Latham charged on Malik and powered another six that flew over the keeper’s head, before pulling Arshdeep Singh for another maximum over the fine leg region. He remained on 145* in 104 balls with 19 boundaries and five maximums to muster 3382 ODI runs in 115 games; while Kane Williamson who remained unbeaten on 94 in 98 balls with seven fours and one maximum, has now 6391 ODI runs in 156 games.

Their unbeaten 221-run partnership is now the highest partnership for any wicket for New Zealand against India in ODIs, surpassing the 200-run stand between Ross Taylor and Tom Latham, who has now been involved in three 200+ stands in ODIs. This is also the highest fourth-wicket partnership ever scored against India, as New Zealand managed to achieve the target by a margin of 7 wickets with almost three overs to spare.

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Ferguson took 3-59 against India at Eden Park (Source: ©Getty Images)

Lockie Ferguson thunderbolts (3/59) cramp India

On a small ground, the runs were expected to come easily but a bowler like Lockie Ferguson with his thunderbolt balls has the ability to scare the opponents in any condition as he brilliantly showed in Gujarat Titans’ (GT) victorious campaign in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022.

After an average first spell of 0/26 from four overs, he returned in the 24th over and broke the 124-run opening partnership, sending back Shubman Gill on 50 who timed the flick straight in the hands of the deep square leg fielder. When he returned for his seventh over, Ferguson after being smashed for a boundary caged Rishabh Pant on 15 who in looking to heave the quick ball away got an under edge as the ball broke the stumps. Two balls later, Ferguson deposited the wicket of in-form Suryakumar Yadav (4) who in looking to punch the ball off the backfoot got an outside edge as the slip fielder did the rest.

Lockie Ferguson who finished with figures of 3/59 in his 10 overs including a maiden, has now got 83 ODI wickets in 46 games.

Read More: NZ v IND, 3rd T20I, 2022-23: Siraj-Arshdeep shine in rain-affected rare tie; India take series 1-0

Dhawan scored 72 off 77 balls against New Zealand at Eden Park (Source: ©Getty Images)

Dhawan-Gill 124-run opening stand laid the platform for India

In the absence of Rohit Sharma for the last few ODI series, the opening stand of Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill has been offering India good starts and they did it again at the Eden Park on Friday.

Dhawan began with a boundary on the second ball of the game, before Gill joined him in the party with a six that was belted over long-on. The former pulled Tim Southee for another boundary, before smashing Ferguson for a four over the third man fielder. Gill cracked another six over the head of the first slip, before Dhawan nailed Adam Milne for two boundaries, both of which went square of third man as Dhawan deposited his 39th ODI fifty in 63 balls.

Gill launched his wrist to put Mitchell Santner in the stands, before timing the left-arm orthodox spinner for a boundary in the short fine leg region to reach his fifty in 64 balls. The duo put up 124 runs for the first wicket which laid a great platform for India to go over the 300-run mark in their allotted 50 overs.

Dhawan who was dismissed for 72, now has 6744 ODI runs in 162 games; while Gill who made 50, now has 679 ODI runs in 14 games.

What's Next

Both these teams will now meet each other for the second of the three-match ODI series on November 27 at Seddon Park in Hamilton.

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