IND vs NZ 3rd T20 Man of the Match: Who won IND vs NZ Man of the Match today in Ahmedabad T20I?

During the third T20I of New Zealand’s tour of India 2023 in Ahmedabad, India beat New Zealand by a whopping 168 runs to register a 2-1 series victory. India’s biggest T20I victory (by runs) and New Zealand’s biggest T20I loss (by runs) prevented the visitors from winning their maiden series (comprising more than one match) in India.

Chasing a monumental 235-run target, New Zealand were reduced to 7/4 in the third over as India’s new-ball bowlers in captain Hardik Pandya (4/16) and pacer Arshdeep Singh (2/16) picked a couple of wickets each in their first two overs. With the Kiwis getting to an exact opposite start to the one which was needed for them to challenge India on Tuesday, their loss was only a matter of time from thereon.

In what is their second-lowest T20I innings total, New Zealand were bundled out for a humiliating 66 in 12.1 overs. While Pandya was the pick of the Indian bowlers tonight, fellow pacers in Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi and Singh dismissed a couple of batters each.

IND vs NZ 3rd T20 Man of the Match

Pandya’s decision of electing to bat first after winning the toss worked wonders for the team. Although the home team lost an early wicket of wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan (1), his opening partner left a memorable first impression on the format scoring a match-winning 126* (63) at a strike rate of 200.

Been at his absolute best in the other two formats of international cricket in the recent months, Gill successfully extended his run-spree to the shortest format. Gill, who hit 12 fours and seven sixes, scored a maiden T20I century in front of a jam-packed Narendra Modi Stadium to put on display another batting spectacle at the highest level.

Needless to say that the 23-year old player was adjudged the Player of the Match for scoring the highest individual T20I score by an Indian cricketer. Gill, who had made his T20I debut less than a month ago, has won a match award for the first time in this format.

So happy to see Shubman Gill reeling out centuries. Being a cross format batter is so hard. I hope he gets the patience his obvious talent deserves.

— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) February 1, 2023

“It feels good when you practice and it pays off. Everybody has a different technique to hit sixes. Hardik bhai told me to play my game, not do anything extra and he kept backing me,” Gill, who became the seventh Indian cricketer to score a T20I century, told Star Sports during the post-match presentation ceremony.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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