IND vs NZ: Shreyas Iyer leads the way with maiden ODI century as India post 347/4 in 1st ODI

Shreyas Iyer registered his maiden international century for India during the first One-Day International (ODI) against New Zealand on Wednesday.

Iyer, batting at No. 4, joined Virat Kohli on the other end in the ninth over. The duo put up a stand of 102 runs before the Indian skipper was dismissed right after he reached his half-century. Iyer, who scored the ton almost run-a-ball, needed 16 ODIs to reach the triple-figure mark. With 7 fifties under his belt, Iyer's previous best score was 88 which he got in his 2nd ODI against Sri Lanka in 2017.

The Mumbai batsman and KL Rahul anchored the inning following Kohli's dismissal for 63-ball 51. Rahul and Iyer built a partnership of 136 runs for the fourth wicket punishing the Kiwi bowlers for any poor delivery they bowled. A few moments of sloppy fielding from the hosts meant the Indian duo capitalised on the earned lives as they took India's total closer to 300.

Eventually, New Zealand's spearhead Tim Southee broke the stand by sending Iyer back to the pavilion in the 46th over. The 25-year-old batsman scored 107-ball 103 and his knock included 11 boundaries and a six.

Iyer had a great run at the recently ended Twenty20 International (T20I) series between India and New Zealand. With a total score of 153 runs in five innings at an average of 51, he was India's second-best batsman in the five-match T20I series after Rahul, who topped the runs chart with 224 runs at an average of 56.

India, who only lost four wickets, eventually posted 347 runs on the board in 50 overs. Rahul once again remained unbeaten with 88 runs from 64 balls and Kedar Jadhav scored a quick-fire 36 from 15 balls.

Earlier, New Zealand won the toss and skipper Tom Latham put India to bat. Since the tourists are without their openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan due to injuries, they handed a debut to Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw, who opened the innings for the Indians on Wednesday. The last time two openers debuted for India was in 2016 when Karnataka batsman Rahul and Karun Nair were handed their India ODI cap during the Zimbabwe tour in 2016.