New Zealand has trumped India in the first ODI clash, courtesy of Tom Latham and Kane Williamson. Tom Latham against India is an impressive tale in the making and Latham is making sure of that. Walking in when New Zealand was 3 down, Latham led the charge against the men in blue as skipper Kane Williamson patiently drove his knock. Consequently, Latham hit a century in the 40th over as he bashed Shardul Thakur left and right to cruise from 70 to 100. Ultimately, Kane Williamson and Tom Latham set a successful partnership of 221 against a clueless bowling attack to clinch the ODI win.
Also Read: India vs New Zealand ODI Series: Full Schedule, Venues, Squads, and Where to Watch?
Tom Latham Turns a Nightmare for India in the First IND vs NZ ODI
Winning the toss, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson chose to chase at Eden Park in Auckland. India’s batting seemed pretty impressive if barred some nitpicks. Skipper Shikhar Dhawan and the young Shubman Gill set the perfect opening partnership with each of them scoring a half-century. Next came Shreyas Iyer with an impressive knock of his own scoring 80 off 76. Meanwhile, Sanju Samson stood his ground and complimented Iyer’s innings very well with a 36(38) knock. Everything that the Indian attack lacked was ultimately fulfilled by Washington Sundar who finished the first innings flawlessly. Sundar hit a bombarding 37 off just 16 to push the Indian score par 300. At the end of the first innings, India put up an impressive total of 306 on the board challenging New Zealand for the chase.
However, India’s impressive batting performance transitioned into a nightmarish bowling and fielding performance. Umran Malik, making his ODI debut delivered a smooth spell scalping 2 wickets. However, the bowling attack as a whole failed to intimidate the Latham and Williamson pair. Moreover, the clueless and laid-back fielding approach added to India’s struggle against the Kiwis. Ultimately, Tom Latham cracked the economy of almost every Indian bowler, especially hurting the debutant Arshdeep Singh and Shardul Thakur. As New Zealand won the clash with the loss of just 3 wickets, the audience witnessed a lacking bowling show by the Indian line-up.
