Guwahati, Nov 28: Virat Kohli and the Indian bowlers helped the hosts cruise to a 40-run win in the opening game of the five match ODI series between India and New Zealand. S Sreesanth (3-30), R Ashwin (3-50) and Yuvraj Singh (3-43) took nine wickets between them while Virat Kohli joined a select bunch of Indian players that includes the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman as he hit his way to a second consecutive ODI century.

Chasing 277 to win, New Zealand looked on course to reaching the target when Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson had taken them to a solid position at 113/2 from 25 overs. But then Yuvraj Singh had Williamson (25) caught behind by Wriddhiman Saha, which opened the gates for a New Zealand collapse. At 169/8, with no contribution from the lower middle order, a loss was inevitable for New Zealand.

But Nate McCullum and Kyle Mills put on a brisk ninth wicket partnership (67 off 9.4 overs) that took New Zealand to within 41 runs of an improbable victory. Gambhir then took a terrific catch off Sreesanth’s bowling to get rid of Nate McCullum (35) and with Mills (32) too falling off Sreesanth’s very next delivery, India finished the day’s proceedings at the Nehru Stadium as worthy winners.

Earlier, Taylor, captaining New Zealand in place of an injured Daniel Vettori, won the toss and opted to bowl first. Because of the chilly early morning conditions in Guwahati, the Indian openers, Murali Vijay and Gautam Gambhir, were circumspect in their shot selection at the start of the innings, preferring to get a feel of things before launching into the Kiwi bowling attack.

That approach paid off as the duo put on 44 runs in just seven overs and looked good to post an ever bigger partnership when Murali Vijay, who had played some lovely drives, played an unnecessary slog. Wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins took a comfortable catch behind the wicket to end Vijay’s innings. Gautam Gambhir, nevertheless, continued coming down the wicket, hoping to score big. The strategy worked and at the 15-over mark, India were motoring along at six runs an over with the score at 90/1. But Gambhir fell soon after, chasing a wide delivery from Andy McKay, and ended up giving a simple catch to Jamie How at point.

From here on it was all Virat Kohli for India. Having helped India chase down a target of 290 against Australia with a spectacular knock of 118 at Visakhapatnam last month, Kohli continued the good work today. He ran hard between the wickets and it was his partnership with Yuvraj Singh (88 runs off 19 overs) that helped set the foundation for a big Indian total. Even Yuvraj’s dismissal (42) didn’t hamper Kohli’s progress and he reached his fourth ODI century, deftly guiding a Kyle Mills delivery to the third man boundary, with the Indian score at 241 for 4.

However, Kohli’s dismissal (105) triggered an Indian collapse as Andy McKay (4-62) and Kyle Mills (3-42) ripped through the lower order. From 250/5 at the end of 44 overs, India were bowled out for 276 in 49 overs, with Yusuf Pathan’s 19-ball 29 being the only significant contribution after Kohli’s dismissal.

Brief Score:India 276 all out in 49 overs (Virat Kohli 105, Yuvraj Singh 42, Andy McKay 4-62) beat New Zealand 236 all out in 45.2 overs (Ross Taylor 66, S Sreesanth 3-30, Yuvraj Singh 3-43, R Ashwin 3-50) by 40 runs

Man-of-the-Match: Virat Kohli for his knock of 105 that set India up for a commanding total of 276.