A century from Virat Kohli helped India secure a convincing 40-run victory in the first one-day international against New Zealand on Sunday. India's total of 276 looked enough, and New Zealand were out of contention at 169 for 8 after 36 overs before a quick ninth-wicket partnership of 67 between Nathan McCullum and Kyle Mills offered them a glimmer of hope.
But McCullum's dismissal in the 45th over allowed India to bowl the tourists out for 236 and finish as easy winners in gloomy conditions at the Nehru Stadium in Guwahati.
Kohli's 105 was the highlight of the game, with the right-handed number three scoring 100 off 100 balls before falling to Andy McKay, New Zealand's most effective bowler, when caught by Jamie How in the 43rd over.
McKay pinned India back with four wickets for 62 runs, as the hosts' stand-in captain Gautam Gambhir scored 38 and Murali Vijay and Yusuf Pathan both contributed with 29 each.
India's regular captain M.S. Dhoni was rested along with other top stars such as Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh for the start of the five-match series.
New Zealand's regular captain Daniel Vettori was also missing due to back stiffness following the three-game Test series between the teams, which India won 1-0 with victory in Nagpur.
Ross Taylor took over Vettori's post, and top scored with 66 as his side struggled to keep up with the required run rate of 5.66 an over.
Wicketkeeper and explosive opening batsman Brendon McCullum - Nathan's brother - was also absent from the side with back trouble, with Gareth Hopkins taking over duties behind the stumps.
New Zealand chose to bowl after winning the toss as they took into account the Guwahati ground's reputation as a tricky track to bat on early in the day.
The second game of the series takes place in Jaipur on Wednesday.
SCOREBOARD:
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INDIA:
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Murali Vijay c Hopkins b Tuffey 29
Gautam Gambhir c How b McKay 38
Virat Kohli c How b McKay 105
Yuvraj Singh c Hopkins b Tuffey 42
Suresh Raina c How b Mills 13
Yusaf Pathan c Taylor b Mills 29
Wriddhiman Saha c Hopkins b McKay 4
Ravichandran Ashwin c and b McKay 0
Ashish Nehra run out Taylor 0
Shanthakumaran Sreesanth c How b Mills 4
Munaf Patel not out 1
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Extras: (b1, lb1, w8, nb1) 11
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Total: (all out, 49.0 overs) 276
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Fall of wickets: 1-44, 2-92, 3-180, 4-220, 5-250, 6-256, 7-256, 8-257, 9-275, 10-276.
Bowling: Mills 10-0-42-3, Tuffey 8-0-56-2 (1nb, 2w), McKay 10-1-62-4 (5w), Elloitt 5-0-24-0, McCullum 9-0-53-0 (1w), Styris 6-0-26-0, Williamson 1-0-11-0.
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NEW ZEALAND:
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Jamie How c Vijay b Nehra 9
Martin Guptill c Patel b Ashwin 30
Kane Saha b Yuvraj Singh 25
Ross Taylor c Patel b Ashwin 66
Scott Styris c Pathan b Yuvraj Singh 10
Grant Elliott c Pathan b Sreesanth 5
Daryl Tuffey c Raina b Yuvraj Singh 4
Gareth Hopkins c Pathan b Ashwin 16
N McCullum c Gambhir b Sreesanth 35
Kyle Mills c Saha b Sreesanth 32
Andy McKay not out 0
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Extras: (lb1, w3) 4
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Total: (all out, 45.2 overs) 236
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Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-46, 3-113, 4-131, 5-136, 6-144, 7-157, 8-169, 9-236, 10-236.
Bowling: Nehra 9-0-44-1 (1w), S Sreesanth 5.2-0-30-3 (1w), Ashwin 10-1-50-3 (1w), Patel 8-0-39-0, Yuvraj Singh 10-0-43-3, Pathan 2-0-24-0, Raina 1-0-5-0
Toss: New Zealand
Umpires: Nigel Llong (ENG) and Shavir Tarapore (IND)
TV umpire: Sanjay Hazare (IND)
Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (SRI)
Next match on Wednesday.
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