WELLINGTON : India beat New Zealand by four runs under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method in a rain-affected one-day international on Saturday to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series after a pace-dominated contest.
Asked to bat first, New Zealand struggled against India’s fast bowlers and were restricted to 134 in 41 overs after rain reduced the match to 47 overs per side.
India’s chase also proved difficult as New Zealand’s seamers struck regularly, but Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul steadied the innings before rain interrupted play with the visitors on 113-7, four runs ahead of the DLS par score.
Jacob Duffy made an immediate impact, dismissing India captain Shubman Gill for a golden duck with the first ball of the innings before removing Virat Kohli in his next over.
Rohit Sharma provided some early momentum, but Kyle Jamieson’s disciplined bowling left India struggling at 47-4 and raised hopes of a New Zealand comeback.
Iyer scored 30 off 46 balls to stabilise the innings, while Rahul remained unbeaten on 26 from 38 deliveries, hitting two fours and two sixes as India edged towards victory.
“I thought it’d be an easy target but it wasn’t,” Gill said. “The pitch was challenging and we lost two extra wickets than we’d have liked, but happy we got there in the end.”
Earlier, India’s pace attack had put New Zealand under pressure from the outset. Auqib Nabi struck twice in the opening exchanges, dismissing openers Tim Seifert and Will Young, with the latter’s wicket marking the right-armer’s maiden international scalp.
New Zealand were 53-3 when Gurnoor Brar delivered a double-wicket maiden, removing Tom Latham and in-form batter Glenn Phillips to leave the hosts in deep trouble.
Daryl Mitchell offered the strongest resistance with 55 from 104 balls, while captain Mitchell Santner contributed 31 off 38 deliveries. Mitchell had been given a reprieve on 21 when Gill dropped a straightforward catch at cover.
“It was a tricky wicket, there was no hiding,” Santner said. “It was one of those wickets where the seamers were posing a challenge. It was a tough wicket but we could’ve scraped to 160-180.”
Brar was named Player of the Match after taking 4-30, while Nabi, Anshul Kamboj and Axar Patel claimed two wickets each.
The five-match series moves to Hamilton on Tuesday.
