Dhawan's unbeaten 75 helps India beat New Zealand by 8 wickets in 1st ODI

India defeated New Zealand by eight wickets in the first ODI, which was reduced to 49 overs because of sun, to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Anchored by Shikhar Dhawan's patient half-century, India chased down the target of 156 runs set by the host in just 34.5 overs at the McLean Park, Napier on Wednesday.

He remained unbeaten at 75 along with Ambati Rayadu who contributed 13 runs. Skipper Virat Kohli also made 45 runs but lost his wicket five runs short to his half-century to Lockie Ferguson. His inning included three boundaries.

Earlier, Indian openers gave India the required start before Rohit Sharma lost his wicket, soon after the dinner break. He was dismissed off Doug Bracewell after making just 11 runs.

In bowling, India's left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav clinched four wickets to restrict New Zealand to a paltry 157. The host innings ended in just 38 overs with skipper Kane Williamson scoring the highest runs.

Williamson slammed a brilliant half-century to put up a decent fight but failed to find any partner at the other end as wickets kept falling at regular intervals. He lost his wicket at 64 while trying to hit a big shot.

At a point, right-arm leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal had dismissed Ross Taylor and wicketkeeper-batsman Tom Latham in quick succession to put India in a dominating position. Kedar Jadhav too managed to take a wicket, thanks to a brilliant catch by Kuldeep Yadav.

Pacer Mohammed Shami struck twice to dismiss New Zealand's openers early. Later, he took one more wicket to take his count to three.

Opting to bat, New Zealand lost Martin Guptill and Colin Munro for five and eight runs respectively. Both the players suffered the same fate and were clean bowled by Shami.