India beat New Zealand by five wickets (DLS method) in the 1st ODI at Eden Park, Auckland, on Wednesday, 4 November, and now lead the five-match series 1-0. Rain cut the chase to 143 in 32 overs, and Virat Kohli made 74 off 51 balls to finish the job with plenty of overs left. Along the way, he also picked up a few records, as he does.
IND vs NZ 1st ODI: the scorecard in short
| Team | Score | Top performers |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | 185 all out (40.2 overs) | Tim Seifert 38, Blair Tickner 34 off 23, Glenn Phillips 30 |
| India (target 143 in 32 overs) | 143/5 (22.4 overs) | Virat Kohli 74 off 51, Shubman Gill 37 off 56 |
Gill won the toss and chose to bowl after a rain delay. Arshdeep Singh took 4/70 and Gurnoor Brar picked up three wickets. Anshul Kamboj bowled 10 overs for just 22 runs and two wickets, and that earned him the Player of the Match award, as per Outlook India.
The funniest part of New Zealand’s innings was that their No. 11, Blair Tickner, finished as the second-highest scorer. His 34 off 23 is why the total got past 180 at all.
Rain, DLS and a very early Rohit wicket
The chase did not begin well. Rohit Sharma was caught by Mitchell Santner at mid-off off Kyle Jamieson in the first over and walked back for a duck. Fans who had cleared their morning for a Rohit special had to settle for a very short highlight.
Then the weather joined in. Rain stopped play with India on 54/1 after 10.5 overs, and when play resumed about an hour later, the match was cut to 40 overs with a target of 167. A second stoppage at 114/2 after 18 overs brought it down again, to 143 in 32 overs.
Virat Kohli’s 74 and the records that came with it
Kohli and Gill then put on 113 for the second wicket. Kohli hit 13 fours and a six, and reached his 80th ODI fifty in 35 balls. That is his second-fastest fifty in an away ODI, behind his 34-ball effort in Canberra in 2016, as per The Sunday Guardian. The Auckland crowd gave him a standing ovation when he was out.
In our match preview, we listed the records he could break. Here is how that went:
- Most runs in ODI chases: He now has 8,741, passing Sachin Tendulkar’s 8,720. Kohli took 169 innings; Tendulkar played 232.
- 13,000 ODI runs at No. 3: He became the first batter to reach this mark at that position.
- Most ODI runs against New Zealand: He needed 76 and made 74, so he is now level with Ricky Ponting on 1,971. Two runs short. Cricket can be cruel.
These numbers are from SportsTak. He also needs just 29 more runs to become the first batter to 2,000 ODI runs against New Zealand.
Jacob Duffy, who got Kohli caught by Seifert, was honest about it after the game. “He was annoying,” Duffy said with a laugh, as per WION. “Not many holes in his game.” Duffy had earlier spoken about what surprised him most about Kohli in the RCB dressing room, so he knew what was coming.
A late wobble before Naman Dhir finished it
Duffy took three wickets in the chase, removing Kohli, Axar Patel (duck) and Shreyas Iyer (15) in quick time. India slipped from 124/2 to 136/5, which was enough to make fans nervous for a few minutes. KL Rahul and Naman Dhir then saw it through, and Dhir hit the winning boundary off Nathan Smith with 56 balls to spare.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir had said before the series that the bowlers could decide it. After Kamboj’s spell, he will feel he had a point.
What’s next
The 2nd ODI is on Saturday, 7 November, in Wellington. New Zealand are without Rachin Ravindra and Mark Chapman for the full series, and Devon Conway missed the opener after a training collision. Kohli, meanwhile, is 29 runs from 2,000 against them. Expect him to be “annoying” again.
Frequently asked questions
Who won the IND vs NZ 1st ODI 2026?
India won by five wickets on the DLS method at Eden Park, Auckland, on 4 November 2026, chasing a revised target of 143 in 32 overs.
Who was Player of the Match in the IND vs NZ 1st ODI?
Anshul Kamboj, who took 2/22 in his 10 overs.
How many runs did Virat Kohli score in the 1st ODI against New Zealand?
Kohli scored 74 off 51 balls with 13 fours and a six.
When is the IND vs NZ 2nd ODI?
The 2nd ODI is on Saturday, 7 November 2026, in Wellington.
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