Watch: Mitchell Santner bowled Virat Kohli with a beautiful delivery during the first ODI of the three-match series against New Zealand, in Uppal, Hyderabad.
Rohit Sharma (34 in 38 balls) and Shubman Gill got India off to a breezy start after they opted to bat at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. They added 90 before Rohit tried to hit Blair Tickner over the latter’s head, mistimed, and was caught at mid-on.
That brought Kohli to the crease. In his four previous ODI innings, Kohli had 113, 113, 4, and 166 not out.
Kohli began cautiously, playing out two balls before flicking Tickner for a single. He got two more singles off Santner at the other end. Henry Shipley – playing his second ODI – replaced Tickner.
Kohli stepped out to the first ball he faced from Shipley, converted the ball to an overpitched one, and cover-drove beautifully to pick up four. The crowd roared in anticipation of a big score, but their joy was short-lived.
Santner came to bowl his fourth over, the 16th of the innings. His first ball was on leg-stump, Kohli turned it, and short leg fielded it.
Then Santner found turn. Bowling from round the wicket, Santner bowled flat, and pitched the ball on a length. As Sunil Gavaskar pointed out on air, Kohli played back when playing forward would have been the better option. He had probably expected the ball to not turn – it had not, until then – but it did just enough to hit off-stump, leaving Kohli stunned.
Kohli fell for a 10-ball eight. India lost Ishan Kishan (caught behind off Lockie Ferguson for five) and Suryakumar Yadav (caught at cover off Daryl Mitchell 31) after that. At the time of writing, they were 189-4 in 30.4 overs with Gill on exactly 100 (off 88 balls) and Hardik Pandya on three (in eight balls). Santner’s figures read 7-0-32-1.
