Kohli's 74 leads India past New Zealand in rain-hit ODI opener

Virat Kohli scored 74 from 51 balls to guide India to a five-wicket victory over New Zealand in the first one-day international at Eden Park, Auckland, on 4 November 2026. India reached the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern revised target of 143 with 56 balls remaining after New Zealand were bowled out for 185.

Kohli came to the crease at the end of the first over after Rohit Sharma was dismissed for a duck. He reached his 80th ODI fifty off 35 deliveries and finished with 13 fours and one six. His partnership with captain Shubman Gill was worth 113 runs; Gill made 37. Kohli was eventually caught at deep square leg off Jacob Duffy and left the field acknowledging the large Indian contingent in the crowd. The innings came a day before his 38th birthday.

New Zealand lost the toss and were asked to bat. They managed 185 all out in 40.2 overs. Tim Seifert top-scored with 38, Blair Tickner added 34, and the rest of the order struggled against short-pitched bowling. Arshdeep Singh took 4 for 70, Gurnoor Brar 3 for 44 and Anshul Kamboj 2 for 22 from ten overs. Kamboj was named player of the match. Kohli took a diving one-handed catch at slip to dismiss Nathan Smith and give Kamboj his first wicket.

Rain interrupted India's chase twice. The match was reduced to 32 overs and the target revised to 143. After the second resumption Kohli continued to dominate the short ball, pulling and hooking with control on a quick surface. KL Rahul and Naman Dhir finished the job, the latter hitting the winning boundary.

The result gives India a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. New Zealand had scored 259 for 7 in the fourth T20 of the preceding series only five days earlier, so the collapse to 185 represented a sharp drop in form against India's pace attack. Gill said after the match that the bowling had been the decisive factor and that the overall team performance had been strong.

Kohli's 74 also moved him past Sachin Tendulkar as the leading run-scorer in ODI run chases. His tally in successful chases now stands at 8,741 runs. At 37 he remains the most consistent middle-order batter in the Indian white-ball side on this tour.

The remaining four ODIs will determine the series. India has already shown that its seamers can exploit bounce and length on New Zealand pitches, and that Kohli retains the ability to set the tempo in a chase even when the rest of the top order fails. New Zealand will need a more disciplined approach to the short ball if it is to level the series.

Eden Park has historically favoured the side batting second in limited-overs cricket when the surface is lively. On this occasion the combination of early wickets, accurate pace bowling and Kohli's controlled aggression was sufficient for India to complete the chase with more than nine overs to spare under the revised conditions.