India produced a professional display in Napier to crush New Zealand by eight wickets in the first One-day international of the five-match series.

Entering the series following their first-ever Test and ODI series triumphs in Australia, India signalled their intent with a clinical display, which saw them chase down a revised target of 156 by eight wickets in 34.5 overs.

The Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method came into the picture for an interruption which was caused by bright sunlight. (Yes, that really happened.)

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On a near-perfect day, the only thing that didn’t go Virat Kohli’s way was the toss. But India made light of that by bowling out the home team for a paltry 157 in 38 overs.

Wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav was the most successful bowler, returning with figures of 4/39 in 10 overs, while seamer Mohammed Shami finished with an excellent 3/19 in six overs. There were also two wickets for leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal.

Captain Kane Williamson top-scored for the hosts with 64 off 81 balls. In response, Shikhar Dhawan began the innings with a flurry of boundaries, eventually finishing as the top-scorer with 75 off 103 balls. The left-handed opening batman, battling indifferent recent form, hit six boundaries.

Here are the statistical highlights of India’s win in the first match of the series:

  • Shami became the fastest Indian bowler to register 100 ODI wickets, going past Irfan Pathan’s record.
  • Kuldeep Yadav registered the third best ODI bowling figures by an Indian in New Zealand after Anil Kumble (5/33) and J Srinath (4/23).
  • Reunited after a break, Yadav and Chahal once again showed they are a potent force when they operate together. This was the seventh time either of them had taken a four-wicket-haul in an ODI outside Asia.
  • Dhawan became the second fastest Indian batsman (in terms of innings played) to score 5,000 ODI runs. No prizes for guessing who the quickest is.