R Ashwin was in his element once again as he combined superbly with fellow spinner Axar Patel and pace debutant Harshal Patel to put the breaks on New Zealand in another comprehensive win for India in the T20I series on Friday.
Showing off his class, Ashwin bagged figures of just 1/19 despite bowling the tough overs amid excessive dew. Axar gave away 1/26 off his 4 overs. But from a futuristic sense, Harshal’s impressive debut outing was the biggest positive for India. The pacer, who earned his cap on the back of a fantastic IPL season, took 2 for 25 off his 4 overs. He used his slow off-cutters to a very good effect.
New Zealand had a spread of thirties in their scorecard from openers Martin Guptill (31) and Daryl Mitchell (31), and Glenn Phillips (34). But no one played a substantial innings that the Kiwis needed for a more challenging score. After a promising start, their innings fizzled out in the middle-overs and the death, and they had to settle with 153/6.
In the run-chase, skipper Rohit Sharma and his deputy KL Rahul batted superbly at the top of the order, both scoring fifties after a sedate start. While Rahul made a 49-ball 65, Rohit struck 55 off 36 deliveries. The captain and the vice-captain combined for another partnership of over 100 runs (117) and made it a no-contest by the time they were dismissed.
India opted to send young gun Venkatesh Iyer at No.3 and he made an unbeaten 12 off 11 balls before star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant (12*) owned the scene and hit James Neesham for two successive sixes and finished off the proceedings.
Captain Tim Southee (3/16) was terrific with the ball for New Zealand, but the rest of the attack caved to the pressure of defending a score about 20-30 less than ideal for the conditions.
A win and a 2-0 lead for India means they now have a great opportunity on November 21 in Kolkata to rest some of their players ahead of the Tests and test their bench strength. The Kiwis, though, would be desperate to pull one their way and take some confidence into the Test series.
Brief scores
New Zealand 153/6 in 20 overs (Glenn Phillips 34, Martin Guptill 31; Harshal Patel 2/25) lost to India 155/3 in 17.2 overs (KL Rahul 65, Rohit Sharma 55; Tim Southee 3/16) by 7 wickets
