Ross Taylor, whose unbeaten 109 off 84 balls helped New Zealand beat India by four wickets in the first ODI at the Seddon Park in Hamilton, said restricting the visitors under 350 gave them the chance in the second innings while chasing.
“It was nice to get across the line. Restricting them under 350 gave us a chance. We were fortunate with the left-right hand combination and we were able to target the short leg-side boundary,” IANS quoted Taylor as saying after the match as he was adjudged Man of the Match.
“It’s been a happy hunting ground for me. It was nice to be there at the end after I got out thrice towards the end in the T20 series,” he added.
Taylor smashed the Indian bowlers all around the park to anchor the Kiwi chase with able support from opener Henry Nicholls (78) and stand-in skipper Tom Latham (69). Taylor’s 21st ODI century was graced by 11 fours and a maximum.
Coming into bat at four, the veteran batsman shared a 62-run stand with Nicholls before the opener departed. Joining the hands of his skipper, Taylor then manoeuvered one his best innings of recent times. He and Latham added 138 runs in 79 balls to take the game out of India’s bound.
Earlier on the day, Latham’s decision to bowl first was proven right as India were reduced to 54/2. However, skipper Virat Kohli (51) joined hands with Shreyas Iyer to stitch 102 runs for the third wicket. Iyer joined hands with KL Rahul to add another 136 runs en route to his maiden ODI ton.
Rahul took the reins of the Indian innings after Iyer went back to the pavilion while batting at 103. The wicketkeeper-batsman smoked Kiwi bowlers all round for his 64-ball knock of 88 runs and help India reach the total of 347/4.
For New Zealand, Tim Southee scalped two wickets but conceded 85 runs in his 10 overs. Meanwhile, Ish Sodhi and Colin de Grandhomme claimed a wicket each.