Another home series won by Team India, and today, in Ahmedabad in the 3rd and series-deciding T20I against New Zealand, India recorded a thumping victory – by 168 runs, which is not only India’s biggest ever win in T20Is, but this is the biggest margin of victory between two full member nations!
Shubman Gill smashed his maiden ODI century – scoring 126*(63), which is also now the highest score by an Indian batsman in T20Is. Courtesy of this fantastic ton from Gill, and other quick-fire knocks from Rahul Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav, and Hardik Pandya, India finished with a massive total of 234.
Chasing this gigantic total, New Zealand crumbled very early, going down at 7/4 and 21/5 in the powerplay itself. The inevitable was not delayed by much as the Indian seamers ran riot, bowling New Zealand out for 68. Hardik Pandya took 4 wickets while Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, and Shivam Mavi took 2 wickets each.
IND vs NZ: Rahul Tripathi played a charged-up innings in 3rd T20I
While Shubman Gill will hog all the limelight today – and deservedly – another big positive for India was Rahul Tripathi. The right-handed batter continued to ride on his ultra-aggressive intent – one which had failed him in the last two matches on spin-friendly and tricky surfaced.
Today, though, Tripathi was in his elements as he smashed 44 runs off 22 balls, walloping 4 fours and 3 sixes in his entertaining, exciting innings.
As Gill creamed drives and pulls from his end, Rahul Tripathi hammered the Kiwi bowlers with disdainful, and at times preemptive hits, as the visitors looked clueless to his mode of attack rarely seen in Indian batters.
One sixer of Lockie Ferguson, who is one of the fastest bowlers in the world, was simply magnificent and jaw-dropping.
To a 149 KPH full delivery from Ferguson, Tripathi walked across the off-stump and ramped it all the way for a six over fine leg, sending the Ahmedabad crowd in raptures.
You can watch the video of Rahul Tripathi’s stunning sixer to Ferguson here:
Hang on to your seats, for a whirlwind Powerplay has just ended!
Yeh toh sirf 6️⃣ overs the. Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost!Will #TeamIndia dictate the rest of the innings? #BelieveInBlue and tune-in to the 3rd Mastercard #INDvNZ T20I, LIVE 📺 on Star Sports & Disney+Hotstar. pic.twitter.com/WPmfeh1nHP
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) February 1, 2023
