The Indain skipper, Virat Kohli conceded that his New Zealand counterpart Tom Latham’s blistering knock took the game away from the men in blue as New Zealand registered a four-wicket victory against India in the first ODI at Seddon Park on Wednesday. Stand-in skipper, Latham played a whirlwind knock of 48-ball 69 and shared a crucial 138-run stand with Ross Taylor who was unbeaten on 109 to win the match for the Black Caps.

Talking about the match during the post-match presentation ceremony, Virat said, “An outstanding performance from New Zealand. We thought 347 was good enough, especially after the start we got with the ball. I think Tom’s innings took the game away from us. Ross and Tom were unstoppable in the middle overs.”

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India rode Shreyas Iyer’s 103 and half-centuries from KL Rahul (88) and Kohli (51) to put up a huge total of 347/4. In the end, New Zealand got to 348/6 in 48.1 overs.

India missed a chance to get rid of Taylor after Kuldeep Yadav dropped a tough chance off teh bowling of Ravindra Jadeja. Asked about their fielding, Kohli said: “We were decent in the field, we dropped one chance. We need to improve though. We can’t think about that one chance. To bat with a positive frame of mind for about 25 overs after that chance is not a small thing at all.”

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He further added, “I got to say that the opposition played better than us and deserved to win today. Both new openers gave us a good start, hope they continue to do the same. Shreyas’ hundred was outstanding and KL was brilliant with the bat too.”

The two teams will now face off in the second ODI at Eden Park on Saturday.