India made a bit of a shaky end to their chase of 301 in the first ODI against New Zealand in Vadodara but they were put so far ahead by Virat Kohli, along with Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, that they still won the match by four wickets with an over to spare. Kohli was at his aggressive best in Vadodara, continuing the incredible purple patch he has found himself in since retiring from Test cricket last year by scoring 93 in 91 balls.
Kohli shared a 118-run stand for the second wicket with captain Gill that came in just 107 balls after which he put up 77 off just 76 with Iyer, who himself made an emphatic return from injury. “Whatever we talk about his innings, it would be less,” said Iyer in a video on posted by the BCCI. “We have been seeing it for so many years now he’s been doing it consistently. The way he rotates the strike and he takes on the bowlers, he basically walks the talk.”
Iyer scored 49 in 47 balls in what was his first international innings since October 2025. He had injured himself while fielding during India’s tour of Australia which forced him to miss the subsequent home series against South Africa.
“Great start to the series. Coming back after a while into the team, it feels great to be a part of this squad. More than that, it was a great feeling to share the dressing room with each and every one. I was missing it for quite a while, but I am happy to be back,” Iyer said.
Kohli hit eight fours and a six in his innings and in the process, became the fastest player to 28,000 runs in men’s international cricket. He fell while going for a big it off New Zealand captain Michael Bracewell, thus missing out on a whopping 54th ODI century.
