Auckland, Nov 25 (UNI) New Zealand rose in the Cricket World Cup Super League standings on the back of brilliant knocks from Tom Latham and Kane Williamson in the first ODI against India here on Friday.
New Zealand bagged 10 CWCSL points and jumped two spots from sixth to fourth in the standings. They are currently tied on 120 points with Australia but are marginally behind on net run rate compared to their neighbours.
Thereafter, the game was totally dominated by New Zealand with Tom Latham leading the charge with a fiery 104-ball 145 not out – his highest score in ODIs.
Kane Williamson was happy to play second fiddle with a patient 98-ball 94 not out. The fourth-wicket stand worth 221 runs helped New Zealand pull off their second-highest chase against India in men's ODI cricket.
India's decision to play only five bowlers, two of whom were making their ODI debut, proved to be costly. The inexperience of the bowling showed as Latham and Williamson used the familiarity of conditions and ground dimensions to their advantage.
Earlier, the fifties from Shubman Gill, Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer along with an impressive cameo from Washington Sundar lifted India to 306/7. Tim Southee picked three wickets to enter the 200-wicket club in ODIs, only the fifth Kiwi to do so.
The action now moves to Hamilton on Sunday, 27 November, where a win for New Zealand would see them jump from fourth to the top of the CWCSL table.
Brief scores: India 306/7 in 50 overs (Shreyas Iyer 80, Shikhar Dhawan 72; Lockie Ferguson 3/59) lost to New Zealand 309/3 in 47.1 overs (Tom Latham 145*, Kane Williamson 94*; Umran Malik 2/66) by 7 wickets
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