Shreyas Iyer top-scored with 80 while Washington Sundar and Sanju Samson played vital knocks as India posted a challenging 306/7 in 50 overs. This was after Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill led a superb start with the pair stitching a century stand. Gill was out immediately after reaching his half-century while Dhawan made 72.
This bilateral series is significant from the point of view of the ODI World Cup in India next year, and many reckon this is from where preparations on that road to the 2023 World Cup begin. New Zealand captain Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to bowl against India in the first ODI on Friday. India have handed debuts to Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik and are fielding both Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson. The visitors are playing with three specialist fast bowlers while the hosts are going in with four of them.
