Auckland, Nov 4 — New Zealand fast bowler Jacob Duffy has seen plenty of Virat Kohli up close, in the nets in Bengaluru during IPL 2026 and now in an ODI at Eden Park on Wednesday. On both counts, Duffy came away with the same conclusion: there is no easy way to get at the India batter.
Kohli’s 74 off 51 balls, hit a day before his 38th birthday, powered India to a five-wicket win by the DLS method in the first ODI on Wednesday. In Kohli’s knock studded with authoritative pulls and a stunning cover drive on the up, India chased down a revised target of 143 in 32 overs in 22.4 overs and now have a 1-0 lead in the five-game series.
“It was a bit annoying, wasn’t it? Small targets like that. If you get a guy to come out with that kind of intent to knock it off, it can just break the chase pretty easily and he’s a pretty good guy to do it. Quite impressive, wasn’t he? Like he didn’t struggle with the bounce.
“He got inside those hook shots, pull shots, and then he can whack you down the ground. No surprise, he’s a good player. He’s done it for a lot of years and he did that to me in the nets a lot in Bangalore,” Duffy said in the post-match press conference.
Duffy felt Kohli might have played differently with a bigger total to chase, but admitted that his time in Bangalore had not revealed any obvious weakness. “I think if they’re batting first or there’s a bigger score on the board, it’d be interesting to see if he plays like that. I don’t know if he will.
“I did get some intel in the nets over in Bangalore, but there’s not many holes in his game, to be fair. On small grounds like that, he uses the pace really well, and then he can obviously, like I said, hit you over your head as well. So, there’s not many holes in that man’s game.”
The pacer also spoke about the fan frenzy that follows Kohli everywhere, and said he admired how the former India captain handled it. “We got a wee taste of it. Obviously, well, probably more of a taste of it in Bangalore, following him around the airports and sitting on planes with him and stuff. It’s a weird life. There’s nothing we can fathom.
“What I, not just him, but a lot of the Indian blokes, they are very patient, especially, and they appreciate their fans very much. So, at times it gets a little bit on top of you, especially in India, we’re there for a long time, and it does get a little bit on top of you and you get a little bit impatient sometimes, especially as the overseas players.
“But the local boys and Virat, they’re the patient guys. They’re the ones that appreciate the fans, and so I’ve always looked up to him for that reason. But he has a pretty wild lifestyle. I don’t know if it’s my cup of tea to be harassed as much as he is. But it’s impressive to watch. It’s quite amazing.”
Earlier, New Zealand’s batters had struggled against India’s seamers, who bowled them out for 185 in 40.2 overs after the visitors chose to bowl. Arshdeep Singh took four wickets, Gurnoor Brar had three scalps, and Player of the Match Anshul Kamboj conceded just 22 runs in his 10 overs, while taking two wickets.
Duffy admitted the total was never going to be competitive on a ground like Eden Park. “Probably 180 at Eden Park is never going to be enough, I think. Obviously, I think they bowled really well. I think they’ve got some big boys in that bowling team and they used the bounce of the surface really well.
“So, they did that well and we probably just weren’t at our best with the bat to start with and then pretty tough to defend 180 and then they can just come hard like that and just knock a few off pretty quick.”
He gave India’s attack due credit, but backed his batters to bounce back in the second ODI happening in Wellington on Saturday. “Credit to them for bowling very well. They extracted bounce very well, and like I said, very tall bowlers at the seam and extracted that bounce.
“I think you saw when the guys did try to sort of lift the ante or play some shots, then quite a few went straight up, which no, I wouldn’t have fallen for that. I think they’ll adapt and adjust, and I think we’re a good batting team. It’s not going to happen again like that, I can’t imagine. So, they’ll adapt and go again.”
Duffy did not hide from the impact of losing the toss either, explaining how the rain had changed the pitch’s nature. “It’s a tough one. It definitely plays a factor. I think we’re lying if we say it’s not. Everyone wants to toss in bowls for us for a reason. I’m not saying it’s not impossible, don’t get me wrong. It’s not like it’s huge - it’s not like we’re giving up as soon as we’ve lost a toss.
“But as soon as you get a little bit of moisture in the wicket, I thought tonight there’s a bit of wind around and we actually might not, but I guess the rain sort of adds that moisture that the dew would have otherwise. So when it does skid on like that, it sort of takes away the tackiness and that sort of tennis bully bounce we saw in their innings, which that’s what I thought made the ball. They’re batting hard.”
New Zealand’s innings was given some respectability by a 39-run last-wicket stand between Blair Tickner and Duffy himself and he was quick to hand the credit to his batting partner.
“Tix batted well. I aged a few. It was amazing, wasn’t it? Like I said, the big boys get some bounce and we tried to swing and have a few, but it didn’t quite come off. But Tix was quite impressive, wasn’t he? Good ball striking for a number 11. Pretty impressive.”
With the ball, New Zealand turned to the short stuff once India set off in pursuit. Duffy said the hosts wanted to send a message for the rest of the series. “To be honest, probably a little bit too little, too late. But there’s still things to gain out there.
“We showed our intent for the series. We’re not going to back down. We’re going to come hard at these guys and show what we’ve got. In this situation, the short ball seemed to work a little bit, so that was the option to put our stamp on the series, I guess.”