The visitors went into the match with an unchanged side from that which took the field in Napier, whilst the Kiwis made two changes, Colin de Grandhomme and Ish Sodhi replacing Mitchell Santner and Tim Southee.
Winning the toss and opting to bat first, India got off to a strong start, with their opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan putting on 154 for the first wicket in a little over 25 overs. Rohit survived a chance off the very first ball he faced from Trent Boult, but, thereafter, he and his partner milked the bowling to help their side build a strong platform. Dhawan eventually fell to Boult, caught behind for 66, having notched 9 fours, but Rohit and Virat Kohli continued to build the innings, until Rohit was caught by de Grandhomme off Lockie Ferguson for 87, which included 3 sixes and 9 fours.
Kohli and Ambati Rayudu then added 54, before the skipper was caught by Sodhi off Boult for 43, but Rayudu then combined with MS Dhoni in a stand of 35. Rayudu, who had hit one six and 3 fours in his 47 was caught and bowled by Ferguson, but Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav then shared an unbeaten stand of 53, as India closed their innings on 324 – 4, with Dhoni unbeaten on 48, and Jadhav 22 not out.
The New Zealand innings was a case of “might-have-been” with batsmen getting a start but failing to convert it into a big score. The tone was set by opener Martin Guptill who had two lives before he was caught by Yuzvendra Chahal off the bowling of Bhuvneshwar Kumar for 15, and then Kane Williamson, who had hit two sixes before being bowled by Mohammed Shami for the same score.
Colin Munro was lbw to Chahal for 31, and Ross Taylor stumped off Jadhav for 22, before Kuldeep Yadav ran through the host’s middle order. The left-arm spinner removed Tom Latham for 34, de Grandhomme for 3, Henry Nicholls for 28, and then finished his day’s work with the wicket of Sodhi for 3.
Doug Bracewell provided some resistance with a spirited 57, which included 3 sixes and 5 fours, but he was the 9th man out, caught by Dhawan off Kumar. When Ferguson was caught off Chahal in the 41st over, the home side’s innings finished, with them bowled out for 234, Yadav the best of the bowlers with 4 for 45.
Rohit’s fine innings earned him the man of the match award.