Virat Kohli narrowly missed out on his 85th international century, but thanks to KL Rahul’s impressive performance in the final overs, India clinched a four-wicket victory over New Zealand in the first ODI held in Vadodara on Sunday(January 11,2026).
Match Summary
Earlier, despite strong opening spells from Harshit Rana and Mohammed Siraj, Daryl Mitchell played a counter-attacking innings, scoring 84 off 71 balls, helping the visitors post a total of 300 for 8.
Henry Nicholls and Devon Conway also made significant contributions with fifties.
While chasing, India was in a strong position with Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer batting in the middle, but New Zealand fought their way back into the match.
Shubman Gill added 56 runs, while Shreyas Iyer contributed 49. Kohli was out for 93, and the team lost some momentum.
Hitting became more difficult as the innings progressed, and the Blackcaps took advantage of the conditions, causing some nerves for India.
KL Rahul’s batting helped India to secure this win quickly.
With Harshit Rana scoring 29 off 23 balls and KL Rahul remaining not out with 29 off 21, India managed to secure the win with four wickets left and six balls to go.
In the match, Virat Kohli broke Sachin Tendulkar’s record by becoming the fastest player to reach 28,000 international runs in just 624 innings, which is 20 fewer innings than Tendulkar.
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