The Eden Park pitch had been billed as "full of runs," but it "bounced more" and was "quicker" than even Mitchell Santner, the home captain, had anticipated. The hard length troubled almost every batter, except Virat Kohli. Against balls back of a length or shorter, he scored 43 off 25, with seven fours and a six, while the rest of the batters managed only 108 off 150 between them and lost seven wickets.

That knock much of the difference on a tricky surface in Auckland, with Kohli's 74 off 51 leading India to a five-wicket win by the DLS method in the first ODI and securing a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. Set a revised target of 143 in 32 overs after two rain interruptions, India got over the line in 22.4 overs, consigning New Zealand to a defeat in the opening match for the first time in 12 home ODI series. The previous instance also came against India, in January 2019, and that remains their last series defeat at home.

Before Kohli did what he does best, India's seamers kept the target small, finding movement and life from back of a length to bowl New Zealand out for 185 in 40.2 overs. Arshdeep Singh returned 4 for 70, Gurnoor Brar took 3 for 44, and Anshul Kamboj, also the Player of the Match, conceded only 22 runs in his 10 overs while picking up two wickets. If not for a 39-run last-wicket stand between Blair Tickner and Jacob Duffy, the highest stand of the innings, it could have been much worse for the hosts.

After a passing shower delayed the toss by 10 minutes, Shubman Gill chose to bowl under overcast skies. Arshdeep removed Will Young and Henry Nicholls off short balls inside nine overs before Brar tightened the screws after his introduction in the 13th over, removing Tim Seifert and Tom Latham. Daryl Mitchell, who came into the game with four hundreds and two fifties in his last seven innings against India, was run out after a mix-up with Glenn Phillips, courtesy of a sharp throw from Rohit Sharma.

Kamboj, using the wobble balls cleverly, then struck twice in three overs. Santner first inside-edged onto his pad, the ball back-spinning to hit the stumps. Then, Nathan Smith edged behind and was caught by a diving Kohli at second slip, reducing New Zealand to 115/7.

Phillips made 30 off 51 before Arshdeep removed him, and Tickner's four sixes, the joint-most by a No.11 in an ODI innings, lifted the total past 180.

India's chase began with a setback when Rohit chipped Kyle Jamieson to mid-off and was out for a six-ball duck in the first over. Kohli and Gill were made to work early, both squared up and beaten by seam movement, and New Zealand pulled things back, conceding just 14 runs in five overs at one point. Kohli then broke a 19-ball boundary drought with a pick-up pull off Duffy and followed it up with an inside-out drive over extra cover off Jamieson.

Rain stopped play at 55/1 in the 11th over. India resumed needing 167 in 40 overs, but the players went off again after just seven balls, with Gill even complaining to umpire Paul Reiffel that he couldn't see the ball properly. When they came back, the match had been cut to 32 overs and the target to 143.

Kohli shifted gears after that. The short ball that had undone so many others became his scoring opportunities as the pacers kept banging the ball into the pitch. He swivel-pulled Jamieson for four and Tickner for a six over midwicket. A pull through deep midwicket brought up his 80th ODI fifty, off 35 balls, his second-fastest in away ODIs.

Gill, who had taken his time to find his rhythm, was content to play the supporting role. The pair added 113 for the second wicket, their sixth 100-plus stand in 27 ODI innings together, and took India to within 29 of the target.

New Zealand found a late burst but it came too deep into the run chase, with Gill top-edging a pull off Smith to kickstart the slide. In the next over, Kohli charged at Duffy and smashed him over his head for four, but three balls later, the short ball finally got him when he miscued one to deep square leg. Off the last ball of the same over, Phillips dived to take a one-handed catch above his head at backward point to remove Axar Patel for a duck.

At that point, India had lost three wickets for 10 runs in 11 balls, but they were still 45 runs ahead of the DLS par score at the end of the 20th over. Shreyas Iyer, who was troubled by the short ball, hooked Duffy for six before he was caught at short midwicket for 15, but Naman Dhir finished the game with a pulled boundary.

Brief scores: New Zealand 185 in 40.2 overs (Tim Seifert 38, Blair Tickner 34; Arshdeep Singh 4-70, Gurnoor Brar 3-44, Anshul Kamboj 2-22) lost to India 143/5 in 22.4 overs (Virat Kohli 74; Jacob Duffy 3-49) by five wickets (DLS method).