The 35-year-old came onto the crease at a crucial juncture of the first innings after Tim Seifert was sent back to the dressing room for just two runs. The Kiwis needed a big partnership and that arrived in the form of Daryl Mitchell and Finn Allen’s solid 86-run partnership.
Before Mitchell truly settled inside the crease, Allen was looking far more dangerous but he was sent back by Nitish Kumar Reddy for 40 off 25. Then came another dangerous batter Glenn Phillips but unlike his previous two innings, the right-hand batter got out for 17 off 14.
The support finally came from Bevon Jacobs who stitched a crucial 75-run partnership with Daryl Mitchell with the latter consistently hitting the Indian bowlers for fours and sixes. He also brought up his 2,000th run in T20 internationals during his half-centurion knock.
He has, thus, become only the sixth batter ever to touch the 2000-run mark with 506 of those coming against India itself. Mitchell’s 89 runs is also his highest individual score in the shortest format. His flurry of boundaries towards the backend of the innings pushed New Zealand to 198 at the loss of only three wickets.
Earlier, Shreyas Iyer had won the toss and elected to bat first.
Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi help India gain 3-0 lead
Daryl Mitchell’s 89-run knock eventually went in vain due to the fiery knocks from Indian openers Abhishek Sharma and teenager Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The duo came out all guns blazing against the Kiwi bowling attack which looked absolutely colourless throughout.
India had reached the 100-run mark within the powerplay, thanks to the relentless hitting from Abhishek and Sooryavanshi. The latter looked dangerous from the start but he could not convert his brilliant start into a half-century as he got out for 45 off 19.
However, Abhishek Sharma remained unfazed, smacking 115 off just 38 balls at a daunting strike rate of 297. It helped India reach the target of 199 within 13.2 overs and seal the series by claiming an unassailable 3-0 lead.
India will head into the remaining T20Is as the victors of this series with the other matches slated for Friday, October 30 and Sunday, November 1.