India V New Zealand, 1ST T20I: Brilliant Batting by Openers and a Clinical Bowling Performance Gives Hosts Easy Win

Jan 6, 2019 at 3:51 AM

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India V New Zealand, 1ST T20I: Brilliant Batting by Openers and a Clinical Bowling Performance Gives Hosts Easy Win

It was a clinical performance by the Men in Blue in the opening T20I at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium as they won handsomely by 53 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. It was the farewell match for Ashish Nehra, and it was a fitting end to an inspiring career which has lasted 18 years. Ridding on brilliant knocks by Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, India posted a mammoth 202 on the board at the end of their allotted 20 overs.

New Zealand was never in the game as they kept losing wickets on a regular basis. Yuzvendra Chahal and Bhuvneshwar Kumar provided the early breaks, and there was no way back for the Kiwis from there on. Axar Patel also joined the party later as India ran away with the game. Eventually, it was Mitchell Santer smashed some big blows to reduce India’s victory margin to 53 runs.

 

Rohit and Dhawan looked in ominous touch from the outset and shared a gigantic 158 runs stand for the opening wicket. The duo was fearless and took on the Kiwis bowlers with disdain and smashed boundaries at will. The southpaw pierced the gaps with precision and was the dominant partner during the first 100 runs and from there on it was Rohit who started clearing the gaps on a consistent basis.

Dhawan was in the terrific flow and smashed the Kiwis bowlers all through the park. A little shimmy down the track and the southpaw smashed Tim Southee for a couple of big sixes through the mid-wicket. Rohit couldn’t quite find the boundaries in the first half of the innings, but just after completing his half-century Rohit went berserk and smashed four sixes.

Ashish Nehra

Both Dhawan and Rohit were dismissed at the score of 80, but Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni didn’t allow the two wickets to bother the eventual scores, Virat was quite exceptional during his brief stay at the crease and smashed three sixes during his innings of 26 of just ten deliveries. MS Dhoni came and deposited his first ball out of the park from Tim Southee.

Chasing a total of 203, New Zealand kept losing wickets at regular intervals. The New Zealand chase started off with a sensational catch from Hardik Pandya which will stand among one of the very best catches of all time. The way he ran and completed the catch was just a sheer proof of the level of fitness Pandya has.

Shikhar Dhawan smashes a ball out of the park during his innings of 80 of 52 deliveries.

Colin Munro was the next to go as Bhuvneshwar Kumar castled him with an exceptional Yorker. There was a brief partnership between skipper Kane Williamson and Tom Latham, but they couldn’t quite continue as Williamson edged a short of length delivery from Hardik Pandya straight to MS Dhoni.

Wickets kept falling as New Zealand were sliding down the barrel and was staring at a defeat by a huge margin. It was Mitchell Santner who smashed a couple of big shots to help New Zealand get to 149. Ashish Nehra was handed over the final over, and the whole crowd cheered him. It has been a brilliant career, and Nehra should be immensely proud of the fact that he still represented India in 2017 after making his debut way back in 1999.

Images (C)BCCI

Brief Scores 

India 202/3 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 80, Shikhar Dhawan 80, Ish Sodhi 2/25)

New Zealand 149/8 in 20 overs (Tom Latham 39, Mitchell Santner 27, Axar Patel 2/20, Yuzvendra Chahal 2/26)

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