The final T20I of the India vs New Zealand series is currently underway at the Bay Oval and the Indian team got off to a good start in the first innings. Virat Kohli opted to skip this match in order to stay fit for the remaining part of the tour while stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma led the side. Also, Sanju Samson kept his place in the match squad despite his disappointing performances in the last two matches.
Talking about the matches that have happened in this series thus far, India dominated the Kiwis in the first two matches while the home side gave the Men in Blue a run for their money in the next two games. Both the games went into a Super Over where the Indian team prevailed. Fifth India vs New Zealand T20I got off to a lukewarm start as Sanju Samson lost his wicket early.
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For a change, Rohit Sharma came out to bat at the number 3 position for India. He steadied the innings along with KL Rahul as both the batsmen powered the team near the three figures mark. Rahul lost his wicket soon while Rohit continued his onslaught from the other end. He eventually retired hurt owing to problems in his calf however, Manish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer ensured that India post a decent total of 163 runs on the board.
Shivam Dube, who batted ahead of Pandey, could not get going in the middle. Scott Kuggeleijn proved to be the strongest point of New Zealand’s bowling attack as he scalped two crucial Indian wickets. He got good support from Hamish Bennett but, the team’s captain Tim Southee got hammered for 52 runs in his 4 overs. Overall, it was an entertaining half of 20 overs and here are the 10 best tweets from India’s first innings in the final T20I match versus New Zealand.
Fifties by indian captains in New Zealand (t20I)
Rohit ~2
Rest all ~0#NZvsIND #nzvind pic.twitter.com/51OILp4goo— . (@ImVK__) February 2, 2020
Most T20I matches
Malik – 113
Rohit – 108*
Taylor – 100*
Afridi – 99
Dhoni – 98Ross Taylor became 3rd Player to play 100 T20I matches!#NZvIND
— CricBeat (@Cric_beat) February 2, 2020
A calf injury forced Rohit off the field while he was batting on 60*
Speedy recovery, skipper ??#OneFamily #CricketMeriJaan #NZvIND @ImRo45 @BCCI pic.twitter.com/e1j9gVhWDe
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) February 2, 2020
Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul pair in T20I cricket:
Innings – 18
Runs – 1019
Average – 59.94
Run rate – 10.16
Century stands – 3
50-run stands – 5Rohit-Rahul pair are the quickest to 1000 partnership runs in T20Is. (18 innings) #NZvIND
— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) February 2, 2020
This match has the most talented bunch of waterboys ever. #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/onjbrg4WVz
— Manya (@CSKian716) February 2, 2020
If K L Rahul doesn’t score another run ever, that drive over extra cover for six should be immortalized in a logo.
— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) February 2, 2020
Bennett has auditioned well for today’s Super Over. Nice wide yorkers. Southee couldn’t be happier ? #NZvInd
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) February 2, 2020
Look at the effect of wickets, even in T20. New Zealand pull it back really well when even 200 was in the realm of possibility. Wonder if the track is just slowing down a bit….
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) February 2, 2020
Broadcasters were upset after seeing Kohli dropped as it will affect the number of viewers. But the smile was clearly visible when they read Iyer’s name. Loss recovered with surplus! #NZvIND
— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) February 2, 2020
