NZ v IND 2020: ‘Opposition played better than us and deserved to win’, says Kohli after Hamilton ODI loss

New Zealand chased down India's mammoth target of 348 with 11 balls to spare in the first ODI.

Ross Taylor and Tom Latham played outstanding knocks to take New Zealand over the line | Getty

Virat Kohli was a disappointed captain as India suffered a comprehensive four-wicket defeat in the ODI series opener against New Zealand at Hamilton on Wednesday (February 5).

WATCH - Virat Kohli or Jonty Rhodes? Indian captain affects a brilliant run-out

Asked to bat first, India posted a mammoth 347/4 in 50 overs on the back of Shreyas Iyer’s maiden ODI century (103 off 107 balls) and KL Rahul’s dazzling 64-ball 88*.

In reply, New Zealand rode on Ross Taylor’s unbeaten 84-ball 109 and significant contributions from Henry Nicholls (78 off 82 balls) and Tom Latham (69 off 48 balls) to overhaul the target with 11 balls to spare.

“An outstanding performance by New Zealand. We thought 348 was good enough, especially after the start we got with the ball. I think Tom's innings took the game away from us. Ross and Tom were unstoppable in the middle overs,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

Kuldeep Yadav dropped Taylor when the Kiwis were still needing more than 100 runs but the Indian skipper doesn’t feel the chance cost them the match.

“We were decent in the field, we dropped one chance. We need to improve though. We can't think about that one chance. To bat with a positive frame of mind for about 25 overs after that chance is not a small thing at all. I got to say that the opposition played better than us and deserved to win today,” he added.

Before Iyer and Rahul’s heroics, India got off to a decent start as the debutant opening pair of Prithvi Shaw (20) and Mayank Agarwal (32) added 50 runs for the first wicket.

Kohli was pleased with the effort of entire batting unit.

“Both new openers gave us a good start, hope they continue to do the same. Shreyas's hundred was outstanding and KL was brilliant with the bat too,” he concluded.

 

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 05 Feb, 2020

    Share Via