NAGPUR: Left-arm opener Abhishek Sharma’s superb half-century led India to a 48-run win in the first T20I of the five-match home series against New Zealand.
New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner’s decision to bat first backfired as the home side posted 238/7 in their 20 overs.
However, India made a contrasting start to their innings with the return of openers Sanju Samson (10) and Ishan Kishan (eight) with two wickets for 27 runs in three overs.
Following an early stumble, skipper Suryakumar Yadav joined Sharma in the middle and the duo turned the game around with a thrilling 99-run partnership that took India’s total past 120 before both were dismissed in subsequent overs.
Sharma top-scored with 84 runs off 35 balls with 8 fours and 5 sixes and was named man of the match, while Yadav scored 32 runs off 22 balls with 4 fours and a six.
The home side suffered another blow nine balls later as Shivam Dube fell victim to Kyle Jamieson who scored nine off four balls in the 14th over.
His dismissal led to the woes of New Zealand’s bowling line-up as he scored an unbeaten 44, which came in just 20 balls and featured seven fours, including three sixes.
For New Zealand, Jacob Duffy and Jamieson took 2 wickets each and Christian Clarke, Ish Sodhi and Glenn Phillips took 3 wickets between them.
Chasing a tough target of 239 runs, New Zealand’s batting unit managed to post 190/7 in the allotted 20 overs despite Phillips’ half-century.
Devan Conway (nil) and Rachin Ravindra (nil) were sent back by Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya respectively, forcing the middle-order batsman to come out to bat in the second over.
Phillips started New Zealand’s comeback with a 50-run third-wicket partnership with Tim Robinson (21), before the duo fell in successive overs for a crucial 79 with Mark Chapman.
The 29-year-old was New Zealand’s top scorer with 78 off 40 balls with 6 sixes and 4 fours, while Chapman scored 34 off 29 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes.
Back-to-back dismissals halted the run flow for the visitors and they eventually fell for 48 runs despite an 18-ball 28 from the in-form Daryl Mitchell and an unbeaten 13-ball 20 from captain Santner.
Varun Chakraborty and Dubey took 2 wickets each while Axar Patel, Pandya and Arshdeep took one wicket each for India.
The emphatic victory gave India a 1-0 lead in the five-match series against New Zealand, the second of which is scheduled for Friday in Raipur.