Riding on quickfire fifties from Colin Munro, Kane Williamson, and Ross Taylor, New Zealand managed to reach a humungous total of 203 for 5 in the first T20I against India in Auckland. Team India chased down the total with an over to spare and defeated New Zealand in the first of the five-match T20I series at the Eden Park in Auckland with the help of the fifties from KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer. The Indian skipper, Virat Kohli won the toss and asked the hosts to bowl first.
Guptill, along with his opening partner, Colin Munro took the Kiwis off to a flyer by targetting Shardul Thakur early in the innings. Guptill made his intentions pretty clear by smashing Jasprit BUmrah for a boundary in the very first over. The hosts surpassed the 50-run mark in merely 4.3 overs as both the openers smashed the ball all around the park and they went on to add 68 runs in the first 6 overs.
WATCH – Rohit Sharma Took A Relay Catch To Dismiss Martin Guptill
However, in the eighth over of the match which was bowled by the Indain all-rounder, Shivam Dube, the brilliant catch from Rohit finally broke the opening partnership of 80 runs. But Guptill’s departure did not bring any respite for India as Munro kept on smashing and got some apt support from his partner in captain Kane Williamson. Munro completed his fifty off 36 balls in the eleventh over with a four off Yuzvendra Chahal.
But before Munro could get close to scoring his third T20I century against India, Shardul dismissed him for 59. However, despite the quick wickets, Williamson and Ross Taylor brought the momentum back on track quickly. Taylor went on to score a fine fifty to make sure New Zealand finish strongly. However, Bumrah controlled the pace of the innings as he gave away just 16 runs in his last two overs and picked the priced wicket of Tim Seifert.
ALSO READ: Jasprit Bumrah Twisted His Ankle In The Auckland T20I
During the chase, India lost Rohit in the second over itself, but KL Rahul and Kohli carry forward the momentum as they helped the men in blue to went past the 65-run mark in the first 6 overs. Rahul was so much in the mood that he was clearing the boundary with ease as India surpassed the 100-run mark in the 9th over itself.
Rahul and Kohli added as many as 99 runs for the second wicket as Rahul was dismissed by Ish Sodhi after playing a dominating knock of 56 off just 27 balls in the 10th over. Soon after that, Blair Tickner dismissed Kohli in the 12th over and the men in blue were looking in some trouble, but then Dube added some quick 13 off 9 balls, but his dismissal in the 14th over could’ve been the game-changer for the hosts.
Despite those dismissals, Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey didn’t lose they cool as India needed 53 runs off the last 5 overs. Iyer then decided to take the game in his own hands and played a quickfire knock of 59 in just 29 balls and become the man of the match as India chased down the total with an over to spare and 6 wickets in hand.
Brief scores
India: 2014/4 in 19 overs (S Iyer 58*, KL Rahul: 56; I Sodhi: 2/36) defeated New Zealand – 203/5 in 20 overs (C Munro: 59; J Bumrah: 1/31, S Dube: 1/24) by 6 wickets and 6 balls to spare
Here is how Twitterati reacted after India’s win:
So 200 was the par score after all on this small ground. Well done team India for making the chase look so easy… #nzvsind #kohli #Rahul #shreyas #dube #bumrah
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) January 24, 2020
Fantastic win for India to start the New Zealand tour. A record 4th time that India have chased 200+ in T20 I. Good all round batting effort with Rahul, Kohli and Shreyas Iyer playing beauties. And under the circumstances,some really tight bowling from Bumrah and Chahal #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/qTGdXDBas3
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) January 24, 2020
What is jet lag? What is a 200 plus chase in a first match of a T20 series? No big deal for team India. Especially happy for @ShreyasIyer15 for delivering a match winning knock.#NZvsIND #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/yMcalR7FGJ
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) January 24, 2020
No celebration from the ice man @ShreyasIyer15 – man means business #NZvsIND pic.twitter.com/nlJEwA2agG
— Mitchell McClenaghan (@Mitch_Savage) January 24, 2020
The more you see of Rahul, the more you want him to open in white-ball cricket. Most definitely in the shortest format. Kamaal Lajawaab Player. #NZvInd
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) January 24, 2020
Guppy haaaaaaaaates taking a screamer 😳 #NZvsIND
— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) January 24, 2020
Shooting @RossLTaylor lovely finish and some traditional hockey flicks how good #NZvIND
— Mitchell McClenaghan (@Mitch_Savage) January 24, 2020
Indians with Most Sixes in T20s since the start of 2019
Shreyas Iyer – 67
KL Rahul – 58
Nitish Rana – 46
Manish Pandey – 43
Rishabh Pant – 41#NZvIND— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) January 24, 2020
https://twitter.com/fwildecricket/status/1220653040128143360
Chasing 200+ targets successfully in T20I cricket – on most occasions
4 by India
2 by SAf and Aus
—
Most times 200+ totals batting 2nd in T20Is
8 – India
4 – Eng
3 – Aus#NZvInd #IndvsNZ#NZvsIND— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) January 24, 2020
KL Rahul during 200+ chases in T20I cricket:
110* (51) vs WI, 2016 [Target: 246]
62 (40) vs WI, 2019 [Target: 208]
56 (27) vs NZ, 2020 [Target: 204]228 runs @ 193.22 SR. #NZvIND
— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) January 24, 2020
You’ve seen the rise of #ViratKohli, of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and now KL Rahul too.
Watch out for the next big thing – @ShreyasIyer15
Such ease and composure despite playing in New Zealand for the first time! #NZvsIND
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) January 24, 2020
