VIRAT Kohli’s 93 guided India to a tense four-wicket victory over New Zealand in the first one-day international on Sunday.
The in-form batsman struck his 77th ODI half-century as India chased down a target of 301 with six balls to spare.
Kohli’s innings saw him become the second leading run-scorer in international cricket with a total of 28,068 runs.
He went past Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara (28,016 runs) to move behind only fellow Indian Sachin Tendulkar (34,357).
“My journey has been nothing short of a dream-come-true for me,” Kohli said after being named man of the match.
“I look at my journey with grace and gratitude. With the way I am playing at the moment, I am not looking at milestones.”
Skipper Shubman Gill made 56 in a 118-run second wicket stand with Kohli, who also shared a strong partnership with Shreyas Iyer (49).
India slipped from 234-2 to 242-5 after Kohli was dismissed by New Zealand pace spearhead Kyle Jamieson, who took 4-41.
Late cameos by Harshit Rana (29) and wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul, who hit the winning six in his unbeaten 29, secured the win.
Earlier, New Zealand posted 300-8 after Daryl Mitchell hit 84 to defy the Indian bowlers.
Openers Devon Conway (56) and Henry Nicholls (62) put on 117 for the first wicket.
Skipper Michael Bracewell said his team could be proud of taking the world’s number one side to the final over.
“If we could have got 320-330 then it would have been the difference,” Bracewell said.
“We talk about match-changing moments in the field, if we had taken those then it would have been different.”
India were helped by a couple of dropped catches, with Rana surviving a reprieve on 12 by Mitchell.
The second match in the three-game series is on Wednesday in Rajkot.
The ODI series will be followed by five T20s ahead of the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.