Virat Kohli plundered his 80th ODI half-century to lead India to an emphatic five-wicket victory over New Zealand in a rain-hit series opener in Auckland on Wednesday.

Kohli notched 74 runs in 56 balls as India successfully chased down the revised Duckworth-Lewis-Stern target of 143 in just under 23 overs. 

Just five days after reaching 259-7 in the fourth T20I match between the two nations, New Zealand were skittled out for 185, with Tim Seifert top-scoring with just 38.

Shubman Gill won the toss and elected to bowl first, a decision that proved to be the right one when Will Young (9) and Henry Nicholls (9) were dismissed early on. 

New Zealand's Seifert offered some resistance before Gurnoor Brar (3-44) removed him, with the Indian bowler then sending Tom Latham (3) back to the dressing room. 

Arshdeep Singh and Anshul Kamboj chipped in by taking six wickets apiece, but it was Brar who brought an end to New Zealand's innings with the dismissal of Blair Tickner (34).

But India's chase did not start well when Rohit Sharma was removed for a six-ball duck by Kyle Jamieson (1-34), but Gill and Kohli were able to steady the ship. 

They put on a 113-run partnership off 104 balls before Gill was caught by Latham on 37, with Kohli following in the next over as Jacob Duffy claimed the first of his three wickets.

However, the damage had already been done, with KL Rahul (3) and Naman Dhir (5) getting the win over the line ahead of Saturday's second encounter in Wellington.

What a start to the ODI series #TeamIndia clinch a convincing win in Auckland to go 1-0 up Updates https://t.co/iZN2Y53Nur #NZvIND https://t.co/jXSglCUEzN

— BCCI (@BCCI) November 4, 2026

Kohli delivers early birthday present

A day before turning 38, Kohli rolled back the years with yet another superb batting display, and in doing so made history in the format. 

Kohli surpassed Sachin Tendulkar for the most runs in ODI run chases. The former has now amassed 8,471 runs in 180 matches in 169 innings, beating the total previously achieved by Tendulkar, who scored 8,720 runs in 242 innings during ODI run chases. 

He also levelled Australian legend Ricky Ponting's record for the most ODI runs against New Zealand, taking his total to 1,971 runs in 37 innings, with Ponting scoring his runs in 51 matches and 50 innings. 

The veteran batter also became the first player to cross the 13,000-run mark in ODIs while batting at number three. In 254 matches and 251 innings at that position, Kohli has scored 13,062 runs at an average of 61.61, with 48 centuries and 70 fifties.

New Zealand have won three of their last four multigame bilateral men's ODI series against India (L1), including a 2-1 victory in their most recent iteration (January 2026), but with Kohli seemingly on top form, that run could come to an end.