It was a good start for India under new captain Rohit Sharma and new head coach Rahul Dravid as they recorded a five-wicket win over New Zealand in the first T20I of the three-match series. India won the toss and opted to field first. New Zealand lost an early wicket before Martin Guptill and Mark Chapman put on 110 runs for the second wicket to lay a fantastic platform. But wickets at regular intervals pegged the visitors back and India restricted them to 164/6.
In reply, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul added 50 runs for the opening wicket before Suryakumar Yadav’s blazing 62 put India on track for a comfortable win. However, the hosts did lose a few wickets in the last few overs which dragged the game to the final over and made things interesting. But Venkatesh Iyer and Rishabh Pant struck boundaries in the 20th over to wrap up the chase and helped India go 1-0 up in the series.
Martin Guptill and Mark Chapman lend solidity with a 110-run stand after early blow
Bhuvneshwar Kumar found some movement early on and he made full use of that as he knocked over Daryl Mitchell in the very first over. The Meerut lad gave India an early breakthrough as New Zealand were reduced for 1/1.
That early wicket put the brakes on the scoring as the Indian bowlers bowled tight lines in the powerplay. Martin Guptill didn’t get much of the strike in the first five overs as he faced just six deliveries while Mark Chapman played 23. New Zealand could get to just 26/1 in five overs before Guptill got one four and Chapman struck a four and a six in the sixth over off Deepak Chahar to provide some impetus to the innings.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel kept things tight as well as the Kiwis could manage just 65/1 in 10 overs before both batters cut loose. Chapman got 63 off 50 before he was dismissed in the 14th over. Guptill struck 70 off just 42 balls as he set the platform for a big score.
Ravichandran Ashwin’s double-wicket over derails New Zealand
New Zealand were motoring along nicely with Mark Chapman and Martin Guptill changing gears swiftly. After being 65/1 at the end of the 10th over, the duo scored 45 runs in the next 19 deliveries to give themselves a solid foundation to go big at the death. However, Ashwin changed the course of the game with two wickets in his final over.
The wily off-spinner tossed one up against Chapman who slogged one across the line and missed it completely and was knocked over. Three balls later, Ashwin foxed Glenn Phillips with a carrom ball and pinned him LBW. Ashwin conceded just four runs (boundary off the first ball) in that over (14th of the innings). After those twin strikes, New Zealand couldn’t really take off at the death and could score just 54 runs in the final six overs.
Rohit Sharma helps India get off to a flying start
Chasing 165, skipper Rohit Sharma provided India with the perfect start. The first couple of overs were a touch sedate as the hosts could get to just 9/0 before Rohit Sharma pounced on Tim Southee’s second over. The new Indian T20I captain smashed two fours and a six to get going before he replicated the same against Trent Boult in the fifth over of the innings. KL Rahul had helped himself to 15 as well by the end of the fifth over as India raced away to 50.
Suryakumar Yadav puts on a show
Suryakumar Yadav walked into bat at No. 3 in the sixth over of the run-chase when the score read 50/1. Rohit Sharma was going along nicely and Yadav took his time early on. He was 12 off 12 deliveries before a six over deep mid-wicket got him going. Once he got that first big hit away, Surya was hard to stop. He constantly found the fence and put the pressure right back on the New Zealand bowlers. He took Todd Astle to the cleaners and didn’t spare the seamers either. He raced away to a 34-ball half-century and finished with 62 off 40 balls as he was cleaned up going for a sweep against Boult. His 62 set up the game for India and put them in a strong position.
Kiwis drag it to the final over boundaries from Iyer,Pant does the job
At the end of the 16th over of India’s innings, the game seemed dead and buried. India needed just 23 runs off the last four overs. Trent Boult bowled an excellent 17th over where he knocked over Suryakumar Yadav and conceded just two runs. Lockie Ferguson then gave away only five runs in the 18th over. Tim Southee bowled the penultimate over where he conceded six runs and got the wicket of Shreyas Iyer.
With 10 required off the final over, New Zealand turned to Daryl Mitchell. Todd Astle was the other option but the leg-spinner had been very expensive while the left-handed Rishabh Pant was at the crease alongside debutant Venkatesh Iyer. The latter struck a boundary off his very first delivery in international cricket before he was caught attempting a reverse sweep. Pant wrapped up the run-chase with a boundary over mid-off and India won by five wickets and two balls to spare.
Also read: Host countries announced for all ICC events played between 2024 and 2031
