Champions Trophy 2017: India vs New Zealand Warm-Up, 5 talking points

Rain cut short India's chase at The Oval but not before they were 45 ahead of the par Duckworth-Lewis score after New Zealand were bowled out for a paltry 189. Virat Kohli led India in the chase with an unbeaten half-century and the subcontinental side were 129/3 in 26 overs when heavy rain lashed the ground.

Earlier, Mohammed Shami took the top three Kiwi wickets to trigger a collapse but Luke Ronchi revived them with a much-needed half-century opening the innings. However, Jadeja picked up two wickets in two overs to put New Zealand back into misery. Not even a valiant effort from James Neesham could get them past 200.

India lost Rahane early in the chase but Dhawan and Kohli rebuilt admirably before the former and Dinesh Karthik fell in quick succession. Dhoni then joined hands with the Indian skipper and the duo had put on 25 off 30 balls when rain stopped play.

Besides a poor display with the bat, New Zealand were also guilty of dropping Kohli, Dhawan and Dhoni pretty early in their respective innings.

Brief Scores : New Zealand 189/10 (Ronchi 66, Bhuvneshwar 3/28) lost to India 129/3 (Kohli 52, Dhawan 40)

Here are the talking points from the warm-up game in London.

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#5 Mohammed Shami underlines his value after indifferent IPL

Mohammed Shami's best moment in the IPL came when he cleaned up David Warner with a smart yorker. The injury- prone seamer is back in the Indian limited overs side and has already shown signs of hitting his strap in the Champions Trophy. In the warm-up against the Kiwis, Shami got rid of the dangerous Martin Guptill with extra bounce.

But his best in the game came when he had Kane Williamson and Neil Broom off back to back deliveries. Luke Ronchi had smashed a six and two fours in the over only to see his skipper guide Shami straight to Rahane in the slips. The Indian seamer wasn't done and extracted some extra bounce next ball to have Broom caught behind.

#4 New Zealand have a worrying workout with the bat

Kane Williamson and his men need to pull up their socks before the tournament

The Kiwis haven't had a fruitful past few months and it hit a new low in the warm-up game. Losing to Bangladesh right before this warm-up did not help their confidence either. With most teams, including Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka racking up 300+ scores on the quickish pitches on offer, the Kiwis would have hoped for a high score themselves.

However, they were in for a shock as the Indian seamers bowled tight lines and generated extra zip off the wicket. From 63/3, the Kiwis failed to gather enough momentum and despite Luke Ronchi fighting it out for a while, the collapse was never too far away.

When Jadeja had Ronchi and Colin de Grandhomme off successive overs the fate was sealed.

#3 India ponder combinations with the ball

It will be interesting to see how India use Hardik Pandya in the Champions Trophy

While India opted for Hardik Pandya with the new ball today, that strategy is definitely not set in stone. With Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar all available to assist Mohammed Shami, Pandya may not be the first choice to open the attack but exploring their options before the tournament wasn't a bad idea.

If India do opt to play Pandya in their line-up, one of Bumrah or Umesh Yadav may miss out given that Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shami are automatic choices in the eleven. Ashwin and Jadeja are both likely to play even though Yuvraj and Jadhav offer back-up spin options.

The risk with this ploy is Pandya's inconsistency with the ball and missing the X-factor that Bumrah and Umesh both provide. It remains to be seen how India's eleven shapes up in the tournament.

#2 New Zealand aim to identify their best seamers

Poor recent returns could see Colin de Grandhomme benched in favour of James Neesham

There is an abundance of bowling talent in the Kiwis line-up. With the successful 2015 World Cup trio of Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Adam Milne back together, Williamson has little worries in the seam bowling front. Colin de Grandhomme and James Neesham both bowled in the warm-up here but it is likely that only one of them will fit in the eleven during the tournament.

With Mitchell Santner also available as an all-round spinner and Corey Anderson capable of delivering a few overs, the Kiwis have enough batting depth to omit one of Neesham or de Grandhomme, the latter looking more like the one to be benched after Neesham's useful outing with bat and ball.

#1 Virat Kohli puts behind IPL form to crack a half-century

Kohli scored a much-needed half-century to put behind his woes in England

Virat Kohli once again master minded a run-chase, albeit a low score of 190, to put aside a horrendous IPL and his woes in England. After having a horrid time in his last tour of England against James Anderson and co., Kohli needed a good warm-up game to get going before the tournament.

Against a disciplined pace attack like the Kiwis, Kohli held his own and looked in sublime touch as he cracked a half-century in a comfortable run-chase by India. New Zealand used as many as five seamers to disrupt the Indian skipper but Kohli was in his zone and appeared to take the warm-up way too seriously for New Zealand's liking.