A dominant display at Nagpur’s Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium powered India to a 1-0 lead over New Zealand in the T20I series.
Being asked to bat first, the Men in Blue posted a massive total on the board that had put the Blackcaps under pressure even before they had come out to bat.
A hefty required run rate from the get-go meant striking from ball one, with added pressure every time they failed to thread the field. A clinical performance with the ball then meant that the hosts had a night to remember.
The ‘Abhishek Sharma Show’ Powers India To 238
Abhishek Sharma has made a name for himself as perhaps the most dangerous batsman at the moment in the shortest format, and he got into the groove by hitting a big six on the last ball of the first over.
Sanju Samson echoed the aggresive batting style with a couple of fours, but handed an easy catch soon afterwards. Ishan Kishan, returning to the national team after a lengthy gap, did the same.
Suryakumar Yadav though, for a change, showed a glimpse of his past self, scoring 32 off 22, complementing Abhishek on the other end, who was going all guns blazing as usual.
He scored 84 off 35 on the night, hitting 8 sixes and 5 fours, simultaneously racing past 5,000 T20I runs faster than anybody else so far.
Even when he was gone, Hardik Pandya kept on going, further pushing India to big total, with Rinku Singh providing the finishing touches with a fine knock of 44 of 20, ending India’s innings on 238 runs.
New Zealand were able to drop 7 wickets, but the power hitting and aggressive intent from the Indian batsmen rendered these blows ineffective.
New Zealand Fall Fighting
Chasing 239 runs is never easy despite the batting talent in the ranks. Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya striking in the opening overs meant increased trouble for New Zealand.
However, they kept on fighting. The partnership between Glenn Phillips (78 off 40) and Mark Chapman (39 off 24), albeit with some gifted lives due to fielding errors, brewed hope, but the pressure of chasing 200+ took its toll.
When they departed, Daryl Mitchell, who is in the form of his life, tried to take on the daunting required run rate, which by the death overs was well over 20, but needless to say, that was too much of an ask from a single batsman.
In the end, India won the match by 48 runs, dropping 7 wickets, and have now taken a 1-0 lead in the T20I series, which is far from over.
