IND vs NZ

A game that had it all, pretty much. India have held their nerves and obtained a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series after this series opener in Vadodara and now the teams will travel to Rajkot for the second game of the series after a gap of two days. It will be do-or-die for New Zealand while India will have an opportunity to seal the series, that is how quickly it goes in a 3-match series. For now, it is time for us to take your leave. This is Sourabh Agrawal signing off on behalf of Karthik Raj and the entire team. Cheers!

Virat Kohli is the Player of the Match for his 93 runs off 91 balls, here are his words:

I have no idea (on how many POTM awards he has), I send it to my mum in Gurgaon, she likes keeping it. If I look back at my whole journey, it has been nothing short of a dream come true for me. I've always mentioned about how much ability I had when I came in and how much I had to work for a lot more to get to the place I am. God has blessed me with way too much, I feel nothing but gratitude and a lot of pride about it. If I'm being brutally honest, the way I am playing right now I am not thinking about the milestones at all. If we would have been batting first today, I would have gone harder. Because there was a total on the board, I had to buckle down even though I wanted to hit more boundaries. The experience does kick in, the only thought was to get the team ahead.

(On his attacking approach to start off his recent few innings) The basic idea batting at number 3 is that if the situation is a bit tricky I back myself to counterattack and not just play the situation becuase some ball has your name on it. At the same point, you don't play outrageous shots, stick to your strengths. Today when I walked in, I just felt like if I push hard in the first 20 balls, we can string in a partnership after Rohit's wicket and that is exactly what happened.

I'm aware of it (on the crowd cheering for an Indian wicket when he is coming in to bat next), same thing happens with MS. It is not a good feeling for the guy going out, I also understand the crowd who get excited and happy. It is a part of the game, I try to focus on what I need to do. I feel grateful that I have been put in this position, it is a blessing to be able to give so much happiness by doing what you love to do which is to play the sport. I'm literally living my dream, makes my very happy when I see smiling faces"

Shubman Gill (Indian Captain): "Always great to chip in. As a sportsperson, staying in the present is important. (On Virat Kohli's knock) The way he is batting, he is making it look easy. A surface like this, it is tough to start. Not easy to replicate what he is doing. Arshdeep did very well in the last series against South Africa, Siraj wasn't there. We are trying to rotate and give everyone games with not many ODIs left before the World Cup. (Washington Sundar's injury) He will have a scan."

Michael Bracewell (New Zealand captain): "We can be proud of our efforts to take the number one team to the second last over in their own conditions. There are a few areas we could tighten up, if we could have got a few more runs, around 320, that would have been great. I was hoping he (Kyle Jamieson) could bowl 15 overs today, he was bowling beautifully. Great to see him back. (On Daryl Mitchell) We've got some great experience across our batting and we are going to rely on that through the series, he did a great job today as he has been doing for a while. As I said, if we could have got a few more, it could have been interesting. We talk about trying to have match changing moments in the field and there were a couple tonight we would have liked to have but it it never easy catching here under the lights in India. It is something we are always striving for and we speak a lot about as a team about being the best fielding side in the world."

KL Rahul: "The last four or five overs, Harshit did the job. He took the pressure off me. I was pretty calm towards the end. We weren't chasing a big asking rate. At this level, you expect to win these games. I knew he had a bit of injury.  Didn't know he couldn't run but was striking the ball pretty well. Rotated the strike beautifully and took a few chances. It played pretty much the same in both the innings. The start that Rohit, Shubman and Virat gave was great. The wicket did get slower later on but the top-order made it easier for the ones coming after. Ravi bhai, you have been here. You know how many last over finishes there has been against New Zealand. They never give up and that is what makes India-New Zealand contests exciting. Looking forward to the rest of the games."

9:33 PM local time and IST: MATCH SUMMARY

India (306/6 in 49 overs) beat New Zealand (300/8 in 50 overs) by 4 wickets

Virat Kohli 93(91) | Mohammad Siraj 2/40(8)
Daryl Mitchell 84(71) | Kyle Jamieson 4/41(10)

This game had no business going this deep, India should have finished the job a long while back but New Zealand refused to throw in the towel. The visitors made a match out of it when it looked like they were down and out as India were cruising at 234/2 in 39 overs with Virat Kohli on 93 at the crease batting like a dream having Shreyas Iyer for company with him and the game looked like it was in their back pocket

But New Zealand have a habit of never giving up, they came back as Jamieson produced a magical spell reducing India from 234/2 to 242/5 in a space of two overs and the match took a big turn after Kohli missed out on a 54th ODI ton and was dismissed on 93. India were unsure of whether Sundar could bat and it looked like they would be a batter short when Harshit Rana came in at 7, but the move was more tactical it seemed as he came out and swung his bat around and albeit with a bit of uck going his way got a vital cameo of 29 runs in 23 balls when things got tight.

Sundar did come out on Rana's departure but he could barely run, he was struggling with an injury to his back on the left side but In the end it was experience that prevailed over the lack of it. Sundar and KL Rahul got together and collected the easy singles on offer, displayed brilliant composure and then eventually got the team over the line in a tight finish.

New Zealand will look back at the dropped catches, the fumbles in the field on an evening where they were more than excellent in the first half of the innings but then it seemed like the pressure got to the very inexperienced side. Some of the tactics to allow easy singles to Sundar who could barely run were questionable as well but the very fact that New Zealand fought back to get into a position where they posed a serious threat is a testimony to their never give up attitude

48.6 Kristian Clarke to KL Rahul, RAHUL FINISHES IT OFF IN STYLE! Full outside-off, Rahul swings it over deep mid-wicket for a maximum. The game got close but India have eventually sealed a four-wicket win with an over to spare.

48.5 Kristian Clarke to KL Rahul, SCORES LEVEL NOW! FOUR! Low full-toss outside-off, Rahul drives it sweetly to the right of deep covers for a boundary.

There for the taking and KL Rahul breaks the shackles! Just 5 more needed now, 8 balls to get them. The crowd is breathing much more easily now, so are the Indian players

48.4 Kristian Clarke to KL Rahul, RAHUL TAKES THE AERIAL ROUTE AND SUCCEEDS! Slower delivery on a length, Rahul gets inside the line of the ball and sweeps it over 45 for a boundary. Boundary check here and the replays show that the ball bounced before the cushion.

48.1 Kristian Clarke to Washington Sundar, length delivery outside-off, Washington guides it to backward point. There is a mix-up and the throw goes to the bowler's end where Clarke fumbles. Single completed eventually.