Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni shared an 151-run partnership to help India chase 286 against New Zealand with seven wickets and 10 balls to spare in the third One-Day International in Mohali on Sunday. India thereby took a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

Both batsmen batted very positively right from the start, after coming together when India were wobbling at 41/2. Kohli was given a reprieve when he was just on six, as Ross Taylor spilled a sitter in the slips. The Indian captain-in-waiting then went on to flay the Kiwi attack with some exquisite wrist work.

The New Zealand bowlers targeted both batsmen with short-pitched bowling, but it was to no avail as the two played the pull shot quite efficiently. Dhoni, in particular, was extremely positive, quite unlike his form in the last 12 months or so. He took on the bowlers, especially the spinners, and hit a couple of big sixes down the ground en route to his first ODI half-century in a year.

In other milestones reached by the two, Dhoni went past 9,000 ODI runs, which is an incredible feat for someone who comes to bat in the middle and lower-middle orders. Kohli, meanwhile, became the fastest Indian to cross 3,000 ODI runs at home, on route to his 26th century and finally finished on an humongous unbeaten 154.

New Zealand thought they had a glimmer of hope when Dhoni played an uppish drive and was caught at cover with India 192/3. But Manish Pandey refused to be bogged down, hitting the boundaries and ticking the strike over as India took a lead in the five-match series.

Earlier, New Zealand imploded from a position of dominance at 153/2 to 199/8, before some stiff lower-order resistance led them to 285. New Zealand's top four batsmen, especially Tom Latham (61), had provided the visitors a great platform for a big total, but an incredible collapse after the halfway point of the innings led to them falling over like nine pins – until the eighth wicket fell.

Jimmy Neesham (57) and Matt Henry (39 not out) shared an 82-run stand for the ninth wicket to defy the Indians. They went for their shots in the last five overs of the match, before Neesham was dismissed in the penultimate over of the innings.

Brief scores:

New Zealand 285 in 49.4 overs (Tom Latham 61, Jimmy Neesham 57; Kedar Jadhav 3/29, Amit Mishra 2/46, Umesh Yadav 3/75) lost to India 289/3 in 48.2 overs (Virat Kohli 154 not out, MS Dhoni 80; Matt Henry 2/56) by seven wickets