The batters looked to spend time in the middle and lay a solid platform for the team. Both players struggled to time the ball initially but found the middle of their bats after binding their time at the middle.
The partnership picked up pace later on, taking India’s score to 40-0 at the end of the 10 overs.
The Indian captain brought up his fifty in the 21st over and the team total also reached the 100-run mark in the same over.
Right-hander Gill reached his fourth ODI fifty off 64 balls two overs later.
However, the opening partnership soon after when pacer Lockie Ferguson dismissed Gill, who was looking to clear the square leg boundary but found the fielder.
Pacer Tim Southee got rid of Dhawan soon, leaving two new batsmen Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant at the crease. India reached 128-2 at the end of 25 overs.
Pant got off the mark in his first ball through a boundary from an outside edge but struggled to time the ball in his brief innings, continuing his slump in form in the limited overs format. Ferguson dismissed the left-hander for 15 off 23 balls.
In-form batter Suryakumar Yadav walked in to bat at five and hit a lovely cover drive on his first ball but was dismissed on the third ball, giving Ferguson his third scalp.
The much-talked-about Sanju Samson then arrived to the middle to stem the flow of wickets and steady the Indian innings. He played second fiddle to Iyer as the duo stitched a crucial 94-run partnership.
Iyer played his trademark shots to propel the Indian innings and reached his fifty in the 42nd over, adding yet another brilliant knock to his prolific 2022 ODI season.
Just when the duo looked to explode, Milne dismissed Samson on 36, bringing all-rounder Sundar to the middle.
Iyer and Sundar then took the attack to the Kiwi bowlers in the last five overs and added 46 runs off just 28 balls.
Iyer was dismissed in the last over while Sundar remained unbeaten and made sure India crossed the 300-run mark.