The first clash of the T20I series between India and New Zealand saw the host side win by five wickets at a full packed Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. This was India's ninth win in 18 T20Is against the Kiwis. Before today, the BlackCaps was the only opponent against whom India had more defeats than wins in the shortest format of the game.
New skipper Rohit Sharma gets his sweet revenge for the World Cup 2021 and also get his first win as a captain. This also gives India a 1-0 lead over New Zealand in the three-match series.
Suryakumar Yadav's 62 off 40 balls and Rohit Sharma's 48 off 36 paved the way for India's win having two balls to spare. Vice-captain KL Rahul (15 off 14), Rishabh Pant (17*) also had their inputs into the win.
Chasing 165, India got off to an excellent start, however, Mitchell Santner paid off as he dismissed Rahul (15) on the first delivery of the sixth over. Suryakumar Yadav joined Rohit in the middle and the duo took the hosts' score to 85/1 at the halfway mark.
Rohit and Suryakumar kept on chipping away at runs, and the hosts were in firm control of the game, but New Zealand got the much-needed breakthrough in the 14th over as Trent Boult got the better of the India skipper.
SKY kept going and even brought up his half-century off just 34 balls. However, the batter's wickets, saw India see a collapse soon as Shreyas Iyer followed after scoring only 5 and Venkatesh Iyer getting out for 4. Daryl Mitchell was chosen to bowl the final over, but Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel (1*) managed to take India over the line.
Earlier, after winning the toss, the Hitman put Tim Southee at his men to bat first. Martin Guptill and Mark Chapman played knocks of 70 and 63 respectively as New Zealand posted a total of 164/6.
Asked to bat first, New Zealand got off to the worst start possible as on just the third ball of the innings, Daryl Mitchell (0) was clean bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Mark Chapman then joined Martin Guptill in the middle and the duo took New Zealand`s score to 41/1 after the end of the powerplay.
Chapman and Guptill kept on moving the scoreboard slowly and steadily, and at the halfway mark, the Kiwis score read 65/1. In the 11th over bowled by Mohammed Siraj, Guptill changed the tempo as he smashed 16 runs, giving the much-needed momentum to the Kiwis. Chapman also went on to register his half-century and the visitors were looking in firm control.
Chapman finally departed after playing a knock of 63 and he was sent back to the pavilion by Ravichandran Ashwin. In the very same over, Ashwin sent Glenn Phillips (0) back to the pavilion, reducing Kiwis to 110/3 in the 14th over. In the final four overs, New Zealand managed to add 34 more runs, taking the score past the 160-run mark.
(Inputs from ANI)
