The India vs New Zealand first ODI got under day at Napier on Wednesday. New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat, and lost opener Martin Guptill early, becoming Indian seamer Mohammed Shami’s 100th victim.
Shami became the fastest Indian to claim 100 wickets in One-Day Internationals, reaching the mark in his 56th game in the 50-over format. Guptill played onto his stumps a good length delivery.
The 28-year-old Indian seamer had a good showing in the just concluded Australia series too.
Before Shami, Irfan Pathan had been the fastest Indian to reach the 100-wicket mark. he had taken 59 ODI matches to achieve the feat. Zaheer Khan (65 matches), Ajit Agarkar (67) and Javagal Srinath (68) are the other Indian bowlers on this hallowed list.
On Wednesday, Shami scalped the other opener, Colin Munro, too. A brilliant delivery beat Munro completely and the ball went between his bat and pad and hit the stumps.
At the time of writing, New Zealand had lost four wickets, with Yuzvendra Chahal claiming Ross Taylor and Tom Latham. The score was 82/4.
The India team have Ambati Rayudu and Kuldeep Yadav back for the New Zealand series. The two had been dropped out of the third and final ODI against Australia at the MCG last week. The two have come in place of Dinesh Karthik and Ravindra Jadeja.
Wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal are also part of the playing XI, apart from all-rounder Vijay Shankar. Kedar Jadhav too has retained his place.
The Kiwis went in with spinner Mitchell Santner and all-rounder Doug Bracewell in the opener.
India vs New Zealand Squads
New Zealand: AMartin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson(c), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham(w), Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Doug Bracewell, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult
India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), MS Dhoni(w), Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, Vijay Shankar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami.