Watch: Virat Kohli’s stunning catch dismisses Nathan Smith for 1 in NZ vs IND 1st ODI

Virat Kohli, after a few weeks’ break, returned to the action during the opening ODI of the five-match series against New Zealand, which took place at Eden Park in Auckland. He grabbed a superb one-handed flying catch, which he enjoyed so much along with millions of his fans on social media. 

India continued their luck in this trip with another victory in the toss and decided to bowl first without any hesitation on the surface, which was under the covers for a decent time due to the drizzle before the beginning of the encounter. They also included four pacers in the eleven.

Virat Kohli’s stunner in the field: Watch the catch that sent Nathan Smith back for 1

It was the third delivery of the 29th over of the innings when Anshul Kamboj went with a fuller-length delivery and invited the drive from the right-handed batter, who fell for the trap and went hard at the ball. The thick outside edge flew low to the right of the second slip where Kohli was stationed.

Watch Virat Kohli's catch here- 

The veteran timed his dive to pluck the ball inches above the turf. There was a ‘try to stop me if you can’-type of celebration from Kohli as he ran away briefly before tossing the ball back towards the umpire. He felt it was a clean catch before the umpires approved the same.

See Also: Watch: Rohit Sharma’s superb run-out dismisses Daryl Mitchell for 28 in NZ vs IND 1st ODI

Nathan Smith was dismissed for one run off nine balls as Kamboj got his second wicket of the game. Kohli has always been sharp in the field and takes pride in his fielding, and this was just another instance of it.

How India’s pacers bowled vs New Zealand in Auckland

The Blackcaps lacked partnerships throughout the first innings of the game. Only three batters in the line-up touched the 30-run mark, including Blair Tickner, who smashed 34 runs at number 11 off 23 balls at a strike rate of 147.83 with one boundary and four sixes as the Kiwis were bowled out for 185 runs.

It was the fourth-lowest total at home for New Zealand against India in ODIs, with the latest coming in 2019 of 157 runs against Napier. Tickner’s four sixes are the joint-most by a number 11 in an ODI innings, along with Mohammad Amir and Naseem Shah.

See Also: Watch: Gurnoor Brar’s one-handed stunning catch dismisses Tom Latham for 3 in NZ vs IND 1st ODI

Arshdeep Singh returned with figures of 4/70 in 10 overs at an economy rate of seven, while Gurnoor Brar ended up with 3/44 in 9.2 overs. Kamboj, meanwhile, scripted 2/22 in his 10 overs with two maidens.