Courtesy of half-centuries by Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill, along with KL Rahul’s unbeaten 29, India secured a four-wicket win over New Zealand in the first match of the three-game ODI series at Kotambi International Stadium. Rohit Sharma and skipper Gill set the tone early, with Rohit breaking a world record by hitting 650 sixes in international cricket.
Kohli’s aggressive play, including reaching 28,000 international runs in just 624 innings, made him the fastest cricketer to achieve this milestone, surpassing Kumar Sangakkara to become the second-highest run-scorer in international cricket history. Kohli and Gill’s partnership of 118 runs propelled India past the 100-run mark effortlessly, with Gill also scoring a half-century.
Despite a brief collapse initiated by Kyle Jamieson, India rallied with Shreyas Iyer’s contributions before a late flourish by KL Rahul sealed the victory with an over to spare. New Zealand had earlier posted a competitive total of 300/8, with Daryl Mitchell’s composed 84 anchoring their innings. The two teams will now head to Rajkot for the second ODI.
