CRICKET – INDIA beat New Zealand by four wickets in the first one-day international in Vadodara yesterday where the in-form Virat Kohli fell agonisingly short of his 54th ODI hundred.
The 37-year-old batting maestro, who had scored 376 in his last four ODI innings, anchored India’s chase of 301 with a sublime knock of 93 featuring eight boundaries and a six, but he was dismissed by Kyle Jamieson when a landmark century was within reach.
The Vadodara crowd’s disappointment was palpable as their hero departed, but they rose to applaud Kohli, who achieved another milestone by becoming the second-highest run scorer in international cricket across all formats.
With his 77th ODI fifty, Kohli moved on to 28,068 runs and surpassed Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara (28,016) to sit behind only Indian icon Sachin Tendulkar’s 34,357.
“If I look back at my whole journey, it’s nothing short of a dream come true for me,” Kohli said on moving one step closer to his mentor Tendulkar.
Earlier, India won the toss and elected to field, factoring in dew conditions for the second innings, but New Zealand’s openers Devon Conway (56) and Henry Nicholls (62) frustrated the hosts with a commanding 117-run opening stand. Harshit Rana provided the breakthrough, striking twice in consecutive overs to dismiss both openers and apply the brakes on New Zealand’s scoring rate.
The middle order failed to capitalise on promising starts, with only Daryl Mitchell making a significant contribution, while skipper Michael Bracewell was run out from a direct hit by Shreyas Iyer.
Mitchell blazed his way to 84 with five boundaries and three sixes before being trapped leg-before to Prasidh Krishna while attempting another big shot. Kristian Clarke’s unbeaten 24 helped New Zealand add 50 runs in the final five overs to reach 300.
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