Kamboj’s dot-ball masterclass and Kohli’s 74 guide India past New Zealand

Auckland: A young pace unit, headlined by the imposing Gurnoor Brar, troubled New Zealand with disconcerting bounce before Virat Kohli celebrated his 38th birthday a day in advance with a classy 74 as India registered an easy five-wicket win in the rain-curtailed first ODI here on Wednesday.

The 6-foot-5-inch-tall Gurnoor repaid skipper Shubman Gill’s faith by intimidating the home batters with his pace and bounce, in the company of Arshdeep Singh, as the visitors dismissed the Black Caps for a below-par 185 in 40.2 overs.

India reached the revised target of 143 in 22.4 overs, with Kohli’s 51-ball knock, comprising 13 boundaries and a six, doing most of the damage.

With India’s first-choice trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna unavailable due to workload management and injury-related issues, it was the Punjab duo of Arshdeep (4/70 in 10 overs) and Gurnoor (3/44 in 9.2 overs) that took up the mantle of unsettling the Black Caps.

The unusually short and straight boundaries at the ground do pose challenges, but Arshdeep hit the perfect length, bowling to the field with relentless accuracy.

Anshul Kamboj (2/22 in 10 overs) was also superbly steady during the middle overs, something that will make head coach Gautam Gambhir proud of his decision to go in with three relative newcomers. He bowled an eye-popping 46 dot balls in his 10-over spell.

In pursuit of the modest target, Kohli’s controlled aggression made all the difference for India after the early dismissal of Rohit Sharma (0).

Despite multiple rain interruptions, Kohli’s intensity remained unwavering as he played his customary cover drives, whipped the ball through midwicket and unleashed imperious pull shots, both off the front foot and over the top.

The Indian maestro, who will turn 38 on Thursday, hit his 80th ODI half-century in the company of Gill (37), who played the supporting role to perfection.

They added 113 runs for the second wicket after Rohit was dismissed for a six-ball duck.

The best shot Kohli played was arguably when he stood upright and punched Blair Tickner through the covers. Kohli decided to ‘tick off’ Tickner in his special style with a flurry of boundaries. His supple wrists were at work, and the crowd went home happy.

Bowlers excel

However, the story of the day was India’s four-pronged pace attack, with a cumulative experience of just 29 ODIs, which made life miserable for the home team on a good batting surface with straight boundaries.

Arshdeep claimed a couple of wickets inside the powerplay as New Zealand managed just 45 for two in the first 10 overs, setting the tone for the innings.

Gill introduced Gurnoor after the fielding restrictions were eased, and the big-built Chandigarh lad repeatedly challenged the batters with his back-of-a-length deliveries.

He claimed two wickets, including a sharp reflex return catch to dismiss Test skipper Tom Latham. At the halfway stage, New Zealand were struggling at 109 for five.

Auqib Nabi was unlucky when Tim Seifert (38 off 43 balls) offered a regulation catch to Naman Dhir at midwicket, but the fielder dropped it.

Will Young (9) was the first to be dismissed as Arshdeep slightly shortened his length. The ball rose on the batter, who skied an attempted pull shot, with Shreyas Iyer completing the catch.

Henry Nicholls (9) did not look comfortable either. He also failed to connect with an attempted pull shot, but this time Dhir made no mistake.

Seifert, who was coming off a century in the previous T20I, hit a ramp shot off Nabi behind the wicketkeeper for a six and also lofted Gurnoor when the bowler pitched slightly fuller. However, he did not look in good touch.

A short ball from Gurnoor caught Seifert off guard as he mistimed his shot, allowing substitute Ruturaj Gaikwad to take an easy catch at mid-on.

Gurnoor then dismissed the dependable Latham as the batter tried to check his uppish drive, only for the ball to stick in the bowler’s outstretched left palm. It was a brilliant reflex effort by Gurnoor during his follow-through.

With four wickets down, New Zealand were under considerable pressure. The in-form pair of Daryl Mitchell (28) and Glenn Phillips (30) were expected to resurrect the crumbling innings.

However, Rohit Sharma’s alertness and KL Rahul’s quick glove-work saw the back of Mitchell as he and Phillips attempted a quick single.

With half the New Zealand team back in the hut for less than 100 runs on a good batting surface, Kamboj added to the pressure by building up the dot-ball count and claiming two wickets.

Skipper Mitchell Santner was bowled, while Virat Kohli took an absolute stunner at second slip to dismiss Nathan Smith.

Tickner then took the attack to the opposition, striking three sixes in Arshdeep’s final over to take the home team’s total past the 180-run mark.