The Men in Blue India kicked off a new era under the leadership of head coach Rahul Dravid and T20I captain Rohit Sharma by defeating the Black Caps by five wickets at Sawai Mansingh Stadium on November 17 and went 1-0 up in the three-match series.
Ravichandran Ashwin was the star for India with the ball, picking 2 for 23 while Bhuvneshwar Kumar also picked 2 for 24 as the hosts restricted NZ to 164/6. Suryakumar Yadav starred with the bat with his 62 off 40 along with Rohit Sharma, who scored 48 off 36 as India chased down the total with two balls to spare.
As it happened, India won the toss and had no hesitation in bowling first. Bhuvneshwar went vintage as he cleaned up Daryl Mitchell on the third ball of the match with a perfect inswinging delivery. Martin Guptill and Mark Chapman put up a 109-run stand for the second wicket.
Chapman, who scored 63 off 50, was bowled by Ashwin with a beautiful delivery. The offspinner was excellent in the over, picking Glenn Phillips with a carrom ball to push NZ on the backfoot.
Guptill changed gears and smashed a few boundaries, before he was caught out in the 18th over. His terrific knock of 70 off 42 included three fours and four sixes. Indian bowlers pulled things back well as NZ managed only 14 runs in the last 16 balls of the innings.
Chasing 165, the opening duo of KL Rahul and Rohit started well. They added 50 runs in the first five overs, with Sharma playing the aggressor and taking Trent Boult for 21 runs in the fifth over. Rahul was dismissed for 15 off 14 in the sixth over. Rohit and Suryakumar then added a 59-run stand between them. The former was dismissed in the 14th over while the latter walked back in the 17th. India needed 21 runs off 20 balls.
Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer couldn’t score quickly as the equation became 10 off the last over, with Shreyas (5 off 8) getting caught on the last ball of the penultimate over. Venkatesh Iyer, on his debut, pulled Mitchell for a four on the first ball of his international career. But he tried a reverse sweep on the next ball and was caught at backward point. 3 required off 3, Pant walked down the track and thumped the ball over mid-off for a boundary.
Brief Scores
New Zealand – 164/6 in 20 overs (Guptill 70, Chapman 63; Ashwin 2/23, Kumar 2/24)
India – 166/5 in 19.4 overs (Yadav 62, Sharma 48; Boult 2/31, Mitchell Santner 1/19)
