IND vs NZ | Twitter impressed as Abhishek and Rinku power India to thumping 48-run win in first T20I

‌India put the disappointing ODI series loss to New Zealand behind them by starting the T20 leg with a clinical 48-run win in Nagpur on Wednesday. Abhishek Sharma led from the front with a blistering 35-ball 84, a knock which included eight sixes and five fours, while Rinku Singh chipped in with an unbeaten cameo to power the side to a gargantuan 238/7. Though Glenn Phillips gave the hosts a scare with his whirlwind half-century, the total eventually proved out of reach for the visitors.

After being put into bat at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, the home side were off to a flying start courtesy of Abhishek’s blitzkrieg. Despite losing Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan, the southpaw continued his aggressive ways, smashing four sixes in the powerplay to power the side to 68/2 at the end of six overs. Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav, who walked into the middle as early as the third over, had an improved outing compared to his miserable knocks in the recent past. The Indian skipper hit four fours and a six in his 22-ball 32, while also adding 99 runs for the third wicket with Abhishek. The southpaw, who brought up his fifty in just 22 balls, the fastest by an Indian batter against New Zealand, continued to usher in the big hits with a four and two sixes against Ish Sodhi before being dismissed in the same over. However, handy cameos from Hardik Pandya and Rinku Singh helped the side past the 200-run mark and finish at an excellent position. Pandya hit 25 off 16, while Rinku had three sixes and four fours in his unbeaten 20-ball 44 as 84 runs came in the last seven overs. Jacob Duffy was the standout bowler for the Kiwis in a high-scoring innings with figures of 2/27 in four overs, while Kyle Jamieson was expensive, giving away 54 runs for his two wickets.

In reply, the Kiwis had a horrific start, losing Devon Conway in the second ball of the chase with nothing on the board. And with Hardik Pandya sharing the new ball from the other end, things went further south, with the all-rounder pricing out Rachin Ravindra in the next over with the score reading just one. But Phillips came up with an excellent counterattacking knock to first take the Kiwis out of the woods and then scared the home side by threatening to pull off a runaway victory. He added 79 runs for the fourth wicket, in seven overs, with Mark Chapman to take the side past the 100-run mark. However, with 108 runs required off the last 40 balls, Phillips was dismissed by Axar Patel for a 40-ball 78, after hitting six sixes and four fours. And Chapman (39) too followed in the next over taking away any chances of an improbable win with him. Though Daryl Mitchell and Mitchell Santner delayed the inevitable with a 46-run stand the writing was on the wall. And the visitors could manage only 190/7 in their allotted overs with Varun Chakravarthy and Shivam Dube ending with figures of 2/37 and 2/28, in their four and three overs, respectively.

Superb

Really

That's true

Too good

Just 33 innings

Easy

Captain surya

Ax factor

Superb

4th one