New Zealand vs India 2019: All-round India cruise to clinical victory in opening ODI

India defeated New Zealand by 8 wickets in the opening match of the 5-match ODI series played at McLean Park in Napier on Wednesday. It was an outstanding performance by the Indian bowlers who combined brilliantly to dismiss the hosts for a paltry total. In reply, Shikhar Dhawan's unbeaten half-century guided the visitors to an easy win.

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson won the toss and decided to bat first. It was a great start by the Indian team as Mohammed Shami got an early breakthrough by dismissing Martin Guptill for 5 runs in 2nd over.

Shami then struck again to dismiss Colin Munro for 8 runs. New Zealand found themselves under immense pressure at 18 for 2. Ross Taylor and Williamson tried to steady the innings. Both the experienced players took New Zealand to 34 for 2 at the end of 10 overs.

After the Power Play overs, Taylor and Williamson continued to build the innings before Yuzvendra Chahal got the former's wicket for 24 runs. The Indian bowlers did not allow the New Zealand batsmen to score runs easily.

Williamson looked in good touch as he put the bad balls away for boundaries. Chahal then dismissed Tom Latham for 11 runs. The New Zealand skipper and Henry Nicholls added 31 runs for the 5th wicket.

Mitchell Santer played a couple of lovely strokes before being dismissed by Shami for 14 runs. Kuldeep then removed Williamson for 64 and then wrapped up the tail to bowl out New Zealand for a paltry total of 157 in 38 overs.

Chasing the target of 158 runs to win, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma got the team off to a decent start by adding 41 runs in 9 overs before the players went for the dinner break. After the break, Rohit was dismissed by Doug Bracewell for 11 runs. The match was then stopped due to the setting sun.

The target was subsequently revised to 156 runs in 49 overs. Dhawan reached his half-century off just 69 balls. Kohli played well before being dismissed for 45 by Lockie Ferguson. The duo added 91 runs for the 2nd wicket.

Dhawan remained not out on 75 as India won the match by 8 wickets with 85 balls to spare.

Brief Scores: India - 156/2 in 34.5 overs (Dhawan 75*, Kohli 45, Bracewell 1/23) beat New Zealand - 157 in 38 overs (Williamson 64, Taylor 24, Kuldeep 4/39, Shami 3/19) by 8 wickets (DLS method)