India registered their first bilateral T20I series win against New Zealand. They beat New Zealand by 6 runs at Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram.
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India scored 67/5 in their quota of 8 overs in a rain-curtailed match. New Zealand ran out of clues in pursuit of chasing the target as the Indians bowled really well to restrict them to 61/6.
India innings:
#1. Shikhar Dhawan – 4/10
Dhawan scored six off six balls. Looked clueless early on but maintained the strike of 100.
#2. Rohit Sharma – 7/10
Rohit Sharma too failed for 8 runs after Dhawan departed. Otherwise, he took a splendid diving catch and that adds weight to his performance.
#3. Shreyas Iyer – 4/10
Having scored 6 off 6, he didn’t have anything much to boast about his score.
#4. Virat Kohli – 7/10
Virat Kohli looked prime even today as well. A short 6-ball 13 runs with one four and a six off Ish Sodhi’s over, inflated India’s innings.
#5. Manish Pandey – 8/10
Manish Pandey made a stellar rebound in the T20I decider when he made most of the runs to good effect. He topped the charts with 11-ball 17 with one four and a six.
#6. Hardik Pandya – 8/10
Hardik Pandya made a 10-ball 14 with one towering six to his name. On the field, his incredible run-out to send New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson back to the dressing room gave India something to cheer for in defending the target.
#7. MS Dhoni – 7/10
MS Dhoni was not involved with the bat but his crunch tips to Virat Kohli helped India set smarty field placements. He saved a couple of runs for the side when he stopped Bumrah’s wide ball. He was spot on in running out Tom Bruce.
#8. Kuldeep Yadav – 2/10
Kuldeep Yadav who replaced Axar Patel this match didn’t make of it. He was below par on the field and even with the ball as well. He was expensive giving 10 runs in his over.
#9. Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 6/10
Struggled to find the grip early on and once he knew he was going good, he did quite well. He gave 18 runs in his 2 overs picking the important wicket of Martin Guptill.
#10. Jasprit Bumrah – 10/10
The No.1 ranked T20I bowler was quite good and economical at the same time. He picked 2 wickets and maintained an economy of 2 runs an over that was sensational.
#11. Yuzvendra Chahal – 8/10
Chahal went around 4 an over to his two-over spell. He might not have taken any wicket but was economical and that stands out.
New Zealand innings:
#1. Martin Guptill – 1/10
Martin Guptill didn’t give the kind of start what the team required. He failed miserably for scoring just a run at the top.
#2. Colin Munro – 3/10
Other than the huge six off Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s bowling, he was far from being impressive as he scored just 7 runs.
#3. Kane Williamson – 3/10
The skipper made just 8 runs. He was running out of ideas only to be run out by a sharp throw by Hardik Pandya.
#4. Tom Bruce – 1/10
He was sent down the order but did not bag the runs as he was run out on 4 runs with Hardik Pandya and MS Dhoni line-up run-out plan.
#5. Glenn Philips – 6/10
Glenn Philips who did not get a chance to play the last match smacked 11 off 9 with 2 fours.
#6. Henry Nicholls – 1/10
Henry wasted a couple of balls when he came in. He scored 2 off 4 balls.
#7. Colin de Grandhomme: 7/10
Colin de Grandhomme topped the batting charts with 10 ball 17 with 2 sixes. He could not help the team ace the chase as he fell into the trap of the Indians.
#8. Mitchell Santner – 7/10
Mitchell Santner will be remembered for two good catches and one sensational effort to extract the link-up catch with de Grandhomme. Other than that, he went 8 an over in his two-over spell.
#9. Tim Southee– 9/10
All important bowler Tim Southee was responsible for giving his team a desperate breakthrough by removing two openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma early on. He gave 13 runs to his 2 over spell.
#10. Ish Sodhi – 8/10
Sodhi was good and was poor at the same time. He picked up 2 wickets but gave away 23 runs in his 2 overs.
#11. Trent Boult – 9/10
Trent Boult, as usual, continued his slick bowling form. He gave 13 runs from his 2 overs and picked two wickets.
