India has claimed the T20 International series as well after defeating Kiwis in another decider in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday. Indian bowlers pulled their socks up and bowled with their heart out, which helped India to win by six runs. Interestingly, India claimed ODI series, earlier, in the decider match with the same winning margin.
The rain-hit match was cut-short to 8-over per side, where India scored 67 runs after losing the toss. New Zealand had the best chance to win T20I trophy, but Indian bowlers had some other ideas, which put the visitors under pressure.
Here are some interesting stats related to this game;
- The Greenfield International Stadium became India’s 50th venue to host an International match and third from Kerala after Kochi’s Nehru Stadium and Thiruvananthapuram’s University Stadium. This city was hosting any International match after 30 years.
- This as 256th victory for MS Dhoni as a player, only Sachin Tendulkar has more under his belt. In the same game, Virat Kohli leapfrogs Harbhajan Singh in the list to fifth place. Now, Kohli has 186 wins as a player. Bhajji has 185 during his playing days for India.
- This was the fourth instance, where India won the T20I series decider. They have won against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in 2016, while New Zealand and England faced a defeat in 2017. Interestingly, India has never lost a third T20I match of any series against any opponent, either they have won or the match has been washed out.
- In this T20I series, the team batting first has won all games. The last such example came in 2012 when Pakistan and England faced each other in UAE.
- When India played their last game in Thiruvananthapuram, Team India’s current coach Ravi Shastri was the captain of India. That match was against West Indies on 25 January 1988, where India lost by 9-wicket.
- This was India’s seventh series-deciding fixture in last two years. Three came in the ODIs while rest of the four was in T20 International.