Virat Kohli underlines the reason behind loss in 1st ODI

It has become quite a trend by India to lose the first match of the series after being completely outplayed by the opposition only to comeback harder to snatch the series with wins from the remaining ODIs. The great Kiwi challenge too has started in a similar manner

Fielding: A big let down
India lost the 1st ODI against New Zealand comprehensively even after posting a mammoth 347 runs on the board after batting first. The pressure was always on the chasing team with a big total to chase down but the Indian fielding was again terrible and pathetic which allowed the kiwis to chase the target with ease.

The Indian skipper Virat Kohli defended his team’s fielding and said that Tom Latham’s innings was the turning point which took the game away from the Indians

It was an outstanding performance by NZ. They batted outstandingly well. We thought 348 was good enough. Ross is the experienced batsman they have, but Tom’s innings was the one that took away the momentum. Credit to Taylor and Tom. Look, we didn’t grab onto one chance, but we were decent. Something we need to keep improving. We can’t focus on too much things. Today, the opposition played better than us and they deserved to win

Another masterly knock from KL
When the Blackcaps’ stand-in captain Tom Latham asked India to bat first on a small ground which had good pace and true bounce in its wicket, the two debutants Mayank and Prithvi gave India a 50 run partnership opening the innings but soon after both the openers fell without converting their starts.
Then it was all about Iyer and Rahul’s show at the crease before the Indian captain departed for a well compiled half-century. The Delhi capitals captain Scored his maiden century in ODIs and the new finisher in KL Rahul continued from where he left in the T20Is and scored a crafty 88 from 64 balls with as much as 6 maximums in it.

Here’s what Virat Kohli said about the positives from the game

I think the debutants gave us a good start and hopefully they continue. Iyer was outstanding getting his first ODI hundred under pressure, KL again. These are positives for us.

Auckland will host the 2nd ODI on February 8th .