In the second T20I of the bilateral series between India and New Zealand, the former emerged victorious by seven wickets. Rohit Sharma (55) and KL Rahul’s (65) fierce partnership guided India over the finish line. The hosts conquered the series 2-0 with one match to go.
Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to field. The Indian bowlers were smashed in all corners of the ground in the powerplay, which put New Zealand in a dominant position. The hosts made a comeback with the ball after the first six overs and managed to restrict the Kiwis to a reasonable total of 153.
The in-form opening pair didn’t hold back in the chase as they attacked the Kiwi bowlers in the powerplay. KL Rahul didn’t take much time to settle and started playing orthodox cricketing shots to anchor the chase. The new Indian skipper also started treating the short balls out of the fine-leg and mid-wicket boundary. The opening pair gathered 117 runs for the first wicket which put the Indians into a winning position. Rahul fell prey to Tim Southee in the 14th over. The Kiwi skipper struck twice in the 16th over when he sent back Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav to the pavilion. Venkatesh Iyer (12*) and Rishab Pant (12*) were the two new batsmen at the crease, the latter smashed two sixes to finish the proceedings with the bat for India.
Harshal Patel was the pick among the bowlers for his 2 for 25. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel pocketed one wicket each. On the other end, Southee took three scalps.
Patel was adjudged Man of the Match for his economical bowling figures.