India vs NZ: Latham, Taylor record partnership takes sheen off Kohli century

Tom Latham of New Zealand plays a reverse-sweep en route to his unbeaten 103 against India in Mumbai on Sunday

Mumbai, October 22: Tom Latham and Ross Taylor were the heroes as New Zealand overpowered India in the first One-Day International at the Wankhede Stadium here on Sunday.

Latham's sublime century (103 n.o) and Ross Taylor's 95 was enough to clinch the win for the visitors, who were playing their first match since the Champions Trophy in June. The duo stole Virat Kohli's thunder, who earlier struck 121 to carry India to 280/8 in their 50 overs.

Match scoreboard and stats

Latham, an opener who has been moved down the order to No 5, came into the crease when the Kiwis were reeling at 80/3. He and Taylor stitched a fourth-wicket partnership of 200, the highest for any wicket at the Wankhede Stadium. It was Latham's fourth ODI century. Taylor was on his way to a century but was caught at mid-on in the 49th over by Yuzvendra Chahal off Bhuvneshwar Kumar. That, however, didn't matter as Henry Nicholls struck the winning runs off his first delivery.

Latham and Taylor played near-perfect innings till the very end. In the 36th over, India squandered a chance to run Latham out. Playing it to cover and calling for a single, Latham stepped out of his crease only to realise Taylor wasn't interested. However, Kohli, the fielder at cover, aimed for a direct throw and missed the stumps. Latham was on 50 then and that wicket could have changed the game for India.

"It was pretty humid out there today," Latham said at the presentation ceremony. "You know, keeping (the wickets) for 50 overs and then batting, it's pretty tough. The conditions here are different from what we have back home. So it was nice to see the team through. As for playing at No 5, I guess you do what you suits the team. At the moment, that No 5 spot is up for grabs and it was nice to contribute today."

India's Virat Kohli en route to his 121 against New Zealand in Mumbai on Sunday

Earlier, Kohli struck 121 off 125 balls to help India post 280/8 in 50 overs. Electing to bat, India didn't enjoy the best of starts. Shikhar Dhawan was the first to go, departing off Trent Boult in the fourth over.

Rohit Sharma was lucky not to have been caught at fine-leg early on. But he soon ran out of luck, bowled by Boult in the sixth over.

Things went from bad to worse as Kedar Jadhav was caught and bowled by spinner Mitchell Santner with India at 71/3 in 16 overs.

However, Dinesh Karthik, in for Manish Pandey in the Starting XI, restored the balance with Kohli. Karthik struck four boundaries in his knock of 37 off 47 balls. He was snared by Colin Munro off Tim Southee.

MS Dhoni and Kohli then strung a 50-run partnership before the wicketkeeper-batsman was caught by Martin Guptill off Boult in the 41st over.

Kohli, silently accumalating the runs all this while, notched up his 31st ODI hundred in the 45th over. He is now only behind Sachin Tendulkar (49) in the list of the highest number of ODI centuries.

Kohli departed in the final over of the innings after mistiming his on-drive off Southee.

The hosts rested Ajinkya Rahane and welcomed back Shikhar Dhawan in their Starting XI. The Kiwis also chose to play only one specialist spinner in Mitchell Santner. India, on the other hand, included their two wrist spinners - chinaman Kuldeep Yadav and leg-break bowler Yuzvendra Chahal - in their Starting XI.