AUCKLAND: In the opening ODI of the series against New Zealand at Eden Park on Friday, Shreyas Iyer led the way with 80 off 76 balls, while captain Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill each scored 72 and 50 as part of their fourth hundred-plus opening partnership of the year. Together, they scored a challenging 306/7 in 50 overs.

India was helped by Dhawan and Gill's strong opening partnership of 124 in 23.1 overs on a drop-in pitch where batting wasn't originally easy. They overcame a poor start. Iyer got India moving towards a large total by putting up a 94-run stand with Sanju Samson despite India losing four wickets for 36 runs in the middle half of the innings (36).

With an unbeaten blitz of 37 off 16 balls with three fours and as many sixes, Washington Sundar put the finishing touches on India's victory as 96 runs came off the final 10 overs to push India above 300.

Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson each got three wickets for New Zealand, and Adam Milne also claimed one victim.
Brief Scores: India defeated New Zealand with an innings total of 306/7 (Shreyas Iyer 80, Shikhar Dhawan 72; Lockie Ferguson 3/59, Tim Southee 3/73).

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