AUCKLAND, New Zealand— Tom Latham made a career-best 145 and captain Kane Williamson scored 94 in an unbroken partnership of 221 which lifted New Zealand to a seven-wicket win over India on Friday in the first of three one-day internationals.
The match was in the balance when Latham joined Williamson with New Zealand at 88-3 in the 20th over in reply to India’s seemingly formidable 306-7. They stayed together for the remainder of the match and steered the Kiwis to victory at 309-3 with 17 balls remaining.
“I guess it was one of those days when everything comes off,” Latham said. “Coming in, we were still under a little bit of pressure and I just built the partnership with Kane and at the end had a little bit of fun without really trying to.”
Earlier, captain Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill made half centuries in a 124-run opening partnership as India batted first after losing the toss.
“We believed we got a good total because for the first 15 overs the ball was seaming a lot,” Dhawan said.
“Eden Park is a bit different to other grounds and according to the ground dimensions you have to plan the bowling.
“I think we bowled a lot short of a length and Latham especially attacked us.”
