Twitter Reactions: India start ODI series with a brilliant victory

The first ODI between India and New Zealand kicked off at Dharamshala with the hosts emerging victorious. To begin with, it was MS Dhoni who won the toss as India elected to field first. Hardik Pandya was awarded his ODI cap by the legendary Kapil Dev.

The Kiwis were off to a horrid start. Martin Guptill was caught at the slips after hitting some boundaries. He was followed by Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor in quick intervals as Umesh Yadav struck twice off consecutive balls.

While Tom Latham batted solidly at one end, the wickets kept falling like a pack of cards at the other end. The Kiwis were reduced to 106/8. However, Tim Southee made a quickfire 55 from just 45 balls as he made sure New Zealand had something to defend on the board.

At the end, the visitors were all out for 190 runs. Tom Latham carried his bat throughout the innings with a scintillating 79*. Debutant Pandya got three wickets along with Mishra who crossed 50 ODI scalps. Yadav who bowled a fantastic first spell got a couple of wickets. Kedar Jadhav bought in to bowl as a surprise by Dhoni also struck twice.

Also read- India v New Zealand, 1st ODI – 5 Talking Points

The Mumbai pair of Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane was off to a fine start before Doug Bracewell trapped Rohit in front of the stumps. Rahane who was looking superb ended up edging one to the wicketkeeper. However, it was Virat Kohli who again stood tall.

In what was his 37th half century in ODI, Kohli scored a magnificent 85* (81) as he finished things off with a six. Earlier, Dhoni who was looking quite confident at the crease got run out due to some confusion between him and Kohli. India went on to win the game by six wickets with more than 15 overs to spare. Hardik Pandya was deservingly declared the player of the game.

Twitter kept everyone entertained on an amazing Sunday evening. The Indian pacers was lauded for some excellent bowling performance in what is considered as a rare occasion. The Kiwi batsmen, Guptill and Taylor were trolled for a string of poor scores. Kohli, as usual, garnered praises for his consistency.

Also read- Twitter Reactions: Indian bowlers rule as Kiwis bundle up for a low score

Here are some of the best Twitter reactions that took place during the course of the game:

Kedar Jadhav is like that intern who knows he won't get a pre placement offer however well he performs in the internship period.#IndvsNZ

— The-Lying-Lama (@KyaUkhaadLega) October 16, 2016

Haazme ki goli, Rangon ki holi,
Aur batting me kohli
Poore India ko pasand hain

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) October 16, 2016

'Strike hum lenge tum run out mat karva dena'
It was Kohli not Rohit? #indvsnz

— Sameer Allana (@HitmanCricket) October 16, 2016

Red ball or white ball, daylight or under floodlight, Virat Kohli keeps scoring. Format does not matter. #IndvNZ

— Moulin (@Moulinparikh) October 16, 2016

Can't wait for 'Mahi maar raha hai' tweets to flood the timeline.

— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh) October 16, 2016

so many mountains and so much of dew. this one day should have been sponsored by mountain dew.#indvsnz

— billoo (@MohitParmarr) October 16, 2016

Maybe I should deal with life just like rahane deals with bouncers!? #indvsnz

— Uzair Lakdawala (@LakdawalaUzair) October 16, 2016

https://twitter.com/altcricket/status/787623049860349953

Dhoni: "Yeh maarne ko dekh raha hai"

Mishra: "Ok captain"

*Bowls a fulltoss*

— dorku (@Dorkstar) October 16, 2016

Move up the order and be a finisher too – kiwis' festive offer to dhoni.

— Jalandar (@scriblng) October 16, 2016

New Zealand finishing this match too early so they can watch Bigg Boss. Omg Salman bhai is international star. #IndvNz

— ️Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) October 16, 2016

Disappointing by NZ. Batsmen have looked dazed or stupefied. Lost cause barring a miracle, which is never easy to come by

— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) October 16, 2016

So, everything Dhoni touches today turning to gold……..@cricbuzz

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 16, 2016

Lots of action but my two favourite moments thus far involve Umesh. The ball to dismiss Taylor and the catch to dismiss Anderson. #IndvsNZ

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) October 16, 2016

Indian commentators have already portrayed Pandya, Umesh and Axar as Kallis, Mcgrath and Vettori respectively with their commentary #IndvNZ

— Shubh AggarWall (@shubh_chintak) October 16, 2016

New Zealand's Team Celebrating Team's 50 !!#IndvsNZ https://t.co/Xq6hi9W2Uk

— Babu Bhaiya (@Shahrcasm) October 16, 2016

Hardik Pandya's unexpected selection & his unexpected performance! Good going Hardik. 😉 #INDvNZ

— Jaanvi Singh (@ThatCricketGurl) October 16, 2016

Remember @BLACKCAPS , one tweet to Sushma Swaraj and she will get you out of Dharamsala

— Sandeep Kadian (@GappistanRadio) October 16, 2016

Umesh & Pandya opening the bowling attack, this is the last thing we could do to help NZ win a match. But they are failing here too. #IndvNz

— ️Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) October 16, 2016

Dhoni's first game after his biopic release. He will be feeling the pressure of living up to Sushant Rajput's standards. #indvnz

— cricBC (@cricBC) October 16, 2016