New Zealand captain Kane Williamson was over the moon after he and Tom Latham handed the hosts an emphatic 7-wicket win in the first of the three ODIs against India which was played at Eden Park, Auckland on November 25, 2022.
The match was a perfect example of building a chase and the Kiwis were fortunate to have two of their best batters in the middle when Indian bowlers were at the top. Chasing 307 runs to win the match, New Zealand was 88/3 at one stage with Umran Malik having taken the wickets of Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell on his ODI debut.
Then Kane Williamson made 94* while anchoring one end, while Tom Latham went after the Indian bowlers, scoring 145* with 19 fours and 5 sixes to his name, as their record 221*-run stand for the fourth wicket took New Zealand to the win by 7 wickets and 17 balls to spare.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony after the match, Kane Williamson said that it was nice to get a win here.
Williamson said: “At the halfway stage I thought it was a competitive total. The wicket was starting to turn a bit. And the cross-seamers got a bit out of it. But as we know on this ground if you build partnerships you can chase anything. Incredible knock by Latham. Absolutely on fire. We're talking in the middle about getting through this over and that over. And then he just flicked a switch. Incredible innings. On this ground with the drop-in pitch, if you bowl nice and straight, it can be hard to get the ball away a little bit.
It was an over or two where he flicked a switch. We got that big over and he just kept going. One of the more special ODI knocks I've seen. It was a very good wicket. Spin played a big role as we saw. Nice to get a win. When we started seeing it turn like it did, you think a number of things. But I thought the seamers did a very good job. It was nice to make a contribution. With Tommy going the way he was, just tried to complement that. Just super special to be at the other end and see it.”
Latham, on the other hand, was just too good for the Indian bowlers, as he had reached his century in 76 balls only.
He was named the Player of the Match for his effort and said: “It was just one of those days when everything came off well. Built a partnership with Kane and had a bit of fun, just reacted to things and it paid off. It's about being in strong positions and react to what they were bowling. Was able to find the gaps.
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The preparation has been ideal, it's been nice and was able to hit the ball right today. Sundar was getting some turn, found a bit hard to play against him. It's a small ground and we could capitalize at the end. Don't know where that came from, just one of those days.”
Earlier, India had made 306/7 with Shikhar Dhawan (72), Shreyas Iyer (80), and Shubman Gill (50) being the main run-getters. For New Zealand, Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson took three wickets apiece.
The second ODI will be played on November 27 at Seddon Park in Hamilton.
(Prime Video inputs)
