Anshul Kamboj gave away 22 runs in 10 overs, and Kohli’s 74 gave India their first ODI win in New Zealand since 2019
Rain cut India’s chase at Eden Park to 32 overs, and they still finished with almost ten of them unused.
Nov 4, 2026
India’s last ODI win in New Zealand came in Wellington in February 2019. They ended that wait at Eden Park on Wednesday, beating New Zealand by five wickets on the DLS method in a rain-hit series opener, and Anshul Kamboj had as much to do with it as Virat Kohli.
Kamboj, picked ahead of Mohammed Siraj, bowled his 10 overs for 22 runs and took two wickets. Arshdeep Singh (4 for 70) and Gurnoor Brar (3 for 44) did the rest as New Zealand were bowled out for 185 in 40.2 overs. Rain then cut India’s target to 143 in 32 overs, and Kohli’s 74 off 51 balls took them most of the way. India got there with 56 balls to spare and lead the five-match series 1-0.
From 73 for 2 to 115 for 7
Shubman Gill chose to bowl, and the Eden Park bounce gave his seamers help from the first over. Arshdeep got Will Young and Henry Nicholls with short balls inside nine overs. Tim Seifert, in for the concussed Devon Conway, scrapped his way to 38 off 43, the top score, before he mis-hit a pull off Gurnoor to mid-on.
That was the first of five wickets for 42 runs. Gurnoor held a sharp return catch to send back Tom Latham for 3. Daryl Mitchell, on 28, answered Glenn Phillips’ call for a single and was run out by Rohit Sharma, who threw while diving to his right at square leg. Kamboj then came back for his second spell. Mitchell Santner played on, and Nathan Smith edged to Kohli, who dived low to take the catch one-handed.
Arshdeep’s second spell removed Kyle Jamieson and Phillips, who made 30 off 51. The last pair added 39, with Blair Tickner hitting four sixes in his 34 off 23, before Gurnoor had him caught behind by KL Rahul.
Kohli’s fifty came in 35 balls
Rohit went for a six-ball duck in the first over of the chase, caught off Jamieson. Gill and Kohli then put on 113 for the second wicket, and they had to do it between showers. Rain stopped play with India on 54 for 1 after 10.5 overs, and the revised target was 167 in 40. A second stoppage at 64 for 1 cut it again, to 143 in 32.
Kohli, who turns 38 on Thursday, survived a New Zealand review in the 13th over and reached his fifty off 35 balls. He hit 13 fours and a six before Jacob Duffy had him caught by Seifert for 74. Gill made 37 off 56.
There was a wobble at the end. India lost four wickets for 22, with Duffy taking three of them, among them Axar Patel for a two-ball duck and Shreyas Iyer for 15. Rahul and Naman Dhir saw them home in the 23rd over.
Four defeats and two washouts since 2019
Before Wednesday, India had played six ODIs in New Zealand since that 2019 win in Wellington. They lost four and the other two were rained off. This time the weather nearly took a hand again, and bowling New Zealand out inside 41 overs mattered more than the margin suggests. Had they batted out their 50, the two stoppages could have left too little time for a result.
The second ODI is at HNRY Stadium in Wellington on Saturday, 7 November, starting at 7:30am IST.