In the first T20I match of the New Zealand tour of India 2023, New Zealand beat India by 21 runs at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi.
Team India won the toss and Hardik Pandya elected to bowl first. Both the New Zealand openers, Finn Allen (35) and Devon Conway (52) gave a strong start to the Kiwis. The duo posted 43 runs together in the powerplay which helped set the base. Glenn Phillips (17) also scored few runs in the middle overs but it was Daryl Mitchell (59) who helped the most with his bat which took New Zealand to a massive score of 176/6 in 20 overs. The right-handed all rounder hammered three fours and five sixes at the strike rate of 196.67 which settled NZ camp after the first innings.
In the chase, no top order batter could score enough runs for the Men in Blue. Suryakumar Yadav (47) was the batter who stood strong along with Washington Sundar (50). Though Sundar scored a fifty, the game was already done and dusted as there was no help from the other end.
For NZ with the ball, two wickets each were taken by Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner and Lockie Ferguson. Jacob Duffy and Ish Sodhi plucked one wicket each as well.
While bowling in the first innings, Washington Sundar bagged two wickets. With him, one wicket each was also taken by Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav and Shivam Mavi.
Daryl Mitchell was adjudged Man of the Match for his amazing knock. With this win, NZ have finally bagged a win in India and have claimed lead in the T20I series.
Scorecard:
New Zealand: 176/6, Overs 20, Daryl Mitchell 59, Washington Sundar 2/22
India: 155/9, Overs 20, Washington Sundar 50, Mitchell Santner 2/11