Williamson guides New Zealand to first win of tour

A lone hand of 118 from Kane Williamson, helped New Zealand register their first win of the ODI series, beating India by a narrow six-run margin in the second ODI played in Delhi on Thursday.

MS Dhoni won his fifth-straight toss and opted to bowl first, given the possibility of evening dew, in the capital, hampering India's spinners. His decision paid dividends early, as in the first over itself as Umesh Yadav dismissed opener Martin Guptill.

His dismissal brought Williamson to the fore and he anchored a comeback with an inform Tom Latham. The duo added a sizeable 120-run stand for the second wicket from the 20.1 overs they batted together.

Williamson outpaced his left-handed partner and scored New Zealand's first century on tour. He picked 65 of his runs between backward square leg and wide mid-on, which in the early part of the innings, was usually only manned by one or two men.

Latham's 86-ball 46 was followed by two 21-run cameos from Ross Taylor and Corey Anderson. New Zealand in the 41st over stood at 204 for 4. The middle order and tail failed to provide any substance and perished for single-digit scores.

William's eventually fell for 118 from 183 balls and his effort guided his side to a respectable 242. India's top-order, barring Virat Kohli, got runs, but the hosts kept loosing wickets at regular intervals. Despite a rearguard from the tail in the dying overs of the match, India fell six-runs short of the target.

"The wicket wasn't easy to increase the scoring rate, at the halfway stage we were a few off where we wanted to be, a lot of credit to the way we bowled, to create pressure on that surface was key and Trent Boult was outstanding," Williamson said.

"The bowling was huge for us, we were below par but we did have enough runs to create a squeeze, dealing the with dew is never easy. The dew didn't help the spinners and they did a great job, there wasn't much turn but they did great for us. Seam bowling was easier to face on that surface. It was a good game of cricket, credit to India, they fought all the way."