Indian team registered their first T20I win in New Zealand.
Kiwi batted first after winning the toss and both teams decided to go in unchanged. However, Bhuvneshwar Kumar handed Kiwis an early blow, dismissing last game’s hero Seifert for 12. Then Krunal Pandya struck twice, removing Munro (12) and Daryl Mitchell (1). Williamson looked good for his 20 before Krunal again struck a big blow to end up with 3/28 in his 4 overs.
Colin de Grandhomme hit 50 off 28 balls with 4 sixes and 1 four and Taylor added 42 in 36 balls to give the Kiwi innings some respect. Khaleel Ahmed bagged two wickets in the death overs, as New Zealand could manage 158/8 in 20 overs.
After the fall of wickets, Rishabh Pant (40*; 4 fours and 1 six) took over the chase and continued battering the Kiwi bowlers and rode his luck a bit. In the company of MS Dhoni (20*), Pant took India to victory with 7 wickets in hand with a boundary.
This was India's first ever T20I win in New Zealand.
BRIEF SCORES:
NZ 158/8 (CD GRANDHOMME 50; K PANDYA 3/28) lost to IND 162/3 (R SHARMA 50; R PANT 40*) by 7 wickets