Team India cruised to a 6-wicket victory over New Zealand in the first T20I match at the Eden Park in Auckland on Friday (January 24).
With this win, the 'Men In Blue' have taken a 1-0 lead in the five-match T20I series.
In chase of a target score of 204, India lost its start opener Rohit Sharma (7) in the second over of the match with Mitchell Santner provided his side with an early breakthrough.
However, skipper Virat Kohli came in and formed a formidable partnership with KL Rahul and crossed the 100-run mark in just the ninth over.
The duo knitted together a serging partnership of 99 runs before Rahul was sent back to the dressing room in the 10th over for 56 runs.
Just moments after that, Blair Tickner dismissed the Indian skipper on 45, reducing the Men In Blue to 121/3.
Shivam Dube came up the order and failed to deliver with the bat and added just 13 runs to the score.
Ultimately, Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey formed a formidable partnership for the sixth wickets and guided India to victory with 6 balls to spare.
Iyer finished the game off in style with a huge six and stayed unbeaten on 58 with Pandey also staying not-out on 14 runs.
Earlier in the day, Team India won the toss and elected to bowl first.
Kiwi openers, Colin Munro and Martin Guptill gave the home side a slid start and formed a 68-run stand in the first six overs.
Shivam Dube in the eight over provided India with a much-needed breakthrough when Rohit took an excellent catch to dismiss Guptill (30).
Skipper Kane Williamson came in and formed a 36-run partnership with Munro before Shardul Thakur dismissed Munro (59) in the 12th over.
Ross Taylor and Williamson provided the Black Caps with the final push for 200. Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed Kane on 51.
Taylor stayed unbeaten on 54 runs and stitched a 22-run partnership with Mitchell Santner.
India will take on New Zealand next in the second T20I on Sunday (January 26).
Brief Scores: India 204/4 (KL Rahul 56, Shreyas Iyer 58*, Ish Sodhi 2-36) defeat New Zealand 203/5 (Colin Munro 59, Ross Raylor 54*, Ravindra Jadeja 1-18) by six wickets.
