Ace and pace do it for India: Kohli conquers Eden Park, pacers run riot in rain-hit win over New Zealand
toi
newspoint|05-11-2026
There are days when a difficult pitch makes batting look like hard work. And then there are days when Virat Kohli walks out and makes it look like an entirely different sport.
At Eden Park, Auckland, on Wednesday, as New Zealand's seamers found bounce and movement on a responsive pitch, and batters from both sides struggled to find their bearings, Kohli seemed to be operating on another plane. There was no apparent fuss, no visible discomfort, just a succession of crisp strokes, authoritative pulls and drives that made a challenging surface look deceptively easy. His 74 off just 51 balls provided the decisive flourish as India wrapped up a five-wicket DLS victory over New Zealand in a rain-hit first ODI.
The result, however, was set up by a relentless Indian pace attack that had dismantled New Zealand for 185 in 40.2 overs. Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar and Anshul Kamboj combined to make life difficult for the home batters, while Shubman Gill's attacking captaincy and India's outstanding work in the field ensured there was hardly any room for New Zealand to recover. The frequent rain interruptions during India's chase made the damage done with the ball in the first innings even more significant.
Just four days back, New Zealand had piled up 259 in the fourth T20I at the same venue. On Wednesday, on a surface offering considerable assistance to the seamers, they found themselves unable to withstand India's four-pronged pace assault.
Kamboj, preferred over the experienced Mohammed Siraj, was arguably the standout of the Indian attack, finishing with figures of 2/22 in his 10 overs. He kept extracting movement and maintained impeccable control even deep into his final spell.
Arshdeep had already made the early inroads, using the short-of-good-length ball to unsettle Will Young and Henry Nicholls, both of whom top-edged their attempted responses.
Gurnoor, meanwhile, brought his own brand of hostility. Tim Seifert , who top-scored with 38, fell to another mistimed pull off Gurnoor's bowling, while Tom Latham offered a sharp return catch to the bowler.
The fielding matched the bowling's intensity. Rohit Sharma produced a superb diving run-out to send back Daryl Mitchell, while Kohli, a day short of his 38th birthday, pulled off a stunning one-handed catch at second slip to dismiss Nathan Smith off Kamboj. Gill, too, was proactive with his bowling changes, refusing to let the pressure ease.
Arshdeep, in his pursuit of a five-wicket haul, did allow No. 11 Blair Tickner to strike three sixes and inflate his figures to 4/70, but Gurnoor ensured the last-wicket resistance did not stretch any further with another lifter that got the better of Tickner.
If the Indian bowlers made the first half of the match their own, Kohli ensured the second belonged to him. Rohit Sharma fell for a duck in the first over of the chase, unable to keep an off-drive down. Skipper Gill, despite looking composed, could not find the fluency that is often attached to his batting.
Yet Kohli appeared untroubled by the very conditions that had made batting such a demanding exercise for everyone else. There is a freshness about Kohli's batting at the moment, an unmistakable willingness to take the initiative rather than wait for the game to unfold. His intent was evident in the way he took on Tickner, repeatedly putting away short deliveries with disdain. The New Zealand pacers tried to use the extra bounce to test him, but Kohli seemed to have an answer for everything. He pulled with authority, drove on the up and found the gaps with the sort of precision that comes from complete conviction.
Gill (37 off 56) offered valuable support but could hardly match Kohli. When the Indian captain fell, a mini collapse followed, with four wickets going down for 22 runs, including Kohli's dismissal. By then, however, the damage had been done to New Zealand.
At Eden Park, Auckland, on Wednesday, as New Zealand's seamers found bounce and movement on a responsive pitch, and batters from both sides struggled to find their bearings, Kohli seemed to be operating on another plane. There was no apparent fuss, no visible discomfort, just a succession of crisp strokes, authoritative pulls and drives that made a challenging surface look deceptively easy. His 74 off just 51 balls provided the decisive flourish as India wrapped up a five-wicket DLS victory over New Zealand in a rain-hit first ODI.
The result, however, was set up by a relentless Indian pace attack that had dismantled New Zealand for 185 in 40.2 overs. Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar and Anshul Kamboj combined to make life difficult for the home batters, while Shubman Gill's attacking captaincy and India's outstanding work in the field ensured there was hardly any room for New Zealand to recover. The frequent rain interruptions during India's chase made the damage done with the ball in the first innings even more significant.
Just four days back, New Zealand had piled up 259 in the fourth T20I at the same venue. On Wednesday, on a surface offering considerable assistance to the seamers, they found themselves unable to withstand India's four-pronged pace assault.
Kamboj, preferred over the experienced Mohammed Siraj, was arguably the standout of the Indian attack, finishing with figures of 2/22 in his 10 overs. He kept extracting movement and maintained impeccable control even deep into his final spell.
Arshdeep had already made the early inroads, using the short-of-good-length ball to unsettle Will Young and Henry Nicholls, both of whom top-edged their attempted responses.
Gurnoor, meanwhile, brought his own brand of hostility. Tim Seifert , who top-scored with 38, fell to another mistimed pull off Gurnoor's bowling, while Tom Latham offered a sharp return catch to the bowler.
The fielding matched the bowling's intensity. Rohit Sharma produced a superb diving run-out to send back Daryl Mitchell, while Kohli, a day short of his 38th birthday, pulled off a stunning one-handed catch at second slip to dismiss Nathan Smith off Kamboj. Gill, too, was proactive with his bowling changes, refusing to let the pressure ease.
Arshdeep, in his pursuit of a five-wicket haul, did allow No. 11 Blair Tickner to strike three sixes and inflate his figures to 4/70, but Gurnoor ensured the last-wicket resistance did not stretch any further with another lifter that got the better of Tickner.
If the Indian bowlers made the first half of the match their own, Kohli ensured the second belonged to him. Rohit Sharma fell for a duck in the first over of the chase, unable to keep an off-drive down. Skipper Gill, despite looking composed, could not find the fluency that is often attached to his batting.
Yet Kohli appeared untroubled by the very conditions that had made batting such a demanding exercise for everyone else. There is a freshness about Kohli's batting at the moment, an unmistakable willingness to take the initiative rather than wait for the game to unfold. His intent was evident in the way he took on Tickner, repeatedly putting away short deliveries with disdain. The New Zealand pacers tried to use the extra bounce to test him, but Kohli seemed to have an answer for everything. He pulled with authority, drove on the up and found the gaps with the sort of precision that comes from complete conviction.
Gill (37 off 56) offered valuable support but could hardly match Kohli. When the Indian captain fell, a mini collapse followed, with four wickets going down for 22 runs, including Kohli's dismissal. By then, however, the damage had been done to New Zealand.
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