Nagpur: In a breathtaking six-hitting show on a nippy night in Nagpur, India comfortably out-batted New Zealand to win by 48 runs in the first T20I on Wednesday.
The last time these two teams met at this venue was in the 2016 T20 World Cup when the home team was out-spun by the Kiwis. A decade later on a completely different surface, led by Abhishek Sharma’s incredible 84 (35b, 5×4, 8×6), India showcased how improved a T20 outfit they were.
Abhishek Sharma breathes T20 cricket. He’s tried his hand at other formats, but batting at breakneck speed is what comes naturally to him.
The left-hander likes to deal in sixes and he hit four of them while the field was up. Frequently, he danced down the track. His first instinct is to meet the ball early to force the bowler to shorten his length. If he can connect once or twice, the bowler’s confidence takes a dip. It forces them to compensate and bowl fuller. That then allows Abhishek to use his free flowing bat swing to good effect. He employed this template to perfection against New Zealand’s tall quicks.
As has been the trend with the Abhishek-Sanju Samson partnership, only one of them goes undefeated outside the Powerplay. But the one who does, ensures the Powerplay belongs to India. Samson perished after stroking two boundaries, but Abhishek’s pyrotechnics saw India racing to 68/2 after the first six.
Some time in middle
The strong start forced New Zealand to introduce spin, even though they would have liked to test the off-colour Suyakumar Yadav more against pace.
The Indian captain began with a first ball four by punching Jacob Duffy past covers. But the first real sign of his starting to regain some form was in the sixth over, when he picked Kristian Clarke over fine leg to a good length ball.
Dismissed on 32 (22b), Surya couldn’t break the fifty-drought but this was the most promising he had looked in recent times.
Abhishek continued his six-hitting spree against Kiwi spinners, lofting Ish Sodhi and Mitch Santner with confidence to well and truly give his team a head start. When the 25-year-old was dismissed, India were 149/4 with eight overs remaining in the innings.
Rinku aces the finish
For India to post 238 from there was entirely down to the finishing kick Rinku Singh (44 not out off 20 balls) was able to provide.
In trying to maintain the high tempo, India lost Shivam Dube (9) in the 14th over and Hardik Pandya (25) in the 16th. Aware that India could be being bowled out, Rinku took 10 balls to get his eye in, while others attacked.
Then, in the final three overs, he attacked. New Zealand tried to delay bowling the one pending over of spin till the 20th and eventually Daryl Mitchell was called upon to bowl his medium pace, but Rinku took full toll by making it a 21-run over.
With this series being the final rehearsal before the World Cup, India were always going to take the liberty of trying out bowling combinations.
If it was Jasprit Bumrah bowling three Powerplay overs in the Asia Cup, here the spearhead was given only a solitary over, the fifth. That allowed Hardik Pandya to share the new ball with Arshdeep Singh and both were able to push New Zealand back with early wickets.
Despite a counter-punching 79 (40b) from Glenn Philips, New Zealand were left with too much and too few balls to do it in. In the field, dropped catches and an injury to Axar Patel ‘s index finger were the only worries in an otherwise perfect outing for the hosts in front of an enthusiastic 40,000-strong crowd.