India vs New Zealand, 1st T20I: Top moments from the match

Riding on Suryakumar Yadav’s 62 off 40 balls and Rohit Sharma’s 48 run-knock, India defeated New Zealand by five wickets on Wednesday. The Men in Blue chased a 165-run target with two balls to spare as Rishabh Pant finished the game with a boundary off part-time bowler Daryl Mitchell. 

For the Kiwis, Martin Guptill (70 off 42) and Mark Chapman (63 off 50) set a solid foundation only to see some poor finishing get them to a mere 164 runs on a brilliant batting track. 

Also read: Rohit Sharma lauds Ashwin-Axar partnership as India beat New Zealand

Here are the top moments from the match:

India wins the toss: Catches win matches, and in T20is, so do tosses. This is especially true in Asia where dew is a factor in the second innings. India’s record while winning tosses is unsurprisingly a lot better than while losing them. Rohit started his new role on the right foot, winning the toss and defining NZ in to bat.

  Also read: Rohit vs Boult: India skipper dominates battle before Kiwi sets slower ball trap

Trent Boult loses it: In the 5th over, after an onslaught by the Indian batsmen, Trent Boult uncharacteristically “lost it” and started cursing out his fielders after a 4th ball four. The shot was classic in-form Rohit, guided through the vacant third man off a good ball, with no chance for a fielder to stop it. Rohit pounced on the mental lapse, anticipated the bouncer next ball, sending it soaring into the stands for a huge six. The over ended up costing NZ 21 runs and set the foundation for India’s chase.

Deepak Chahar’s death stare: Martin Guptill smashed Deepak Chahar’s length delivery for a no-look six. He stared at the bowler who was walking back to his bowling mark.

  Also read: Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid’s bond will be good because of similar nature: Sunil Gavaskar

However, the CSK player made a stunning comeback. The Kiwi tried to smash a length delivery once again but it was a little slower. Shreyas Iyer took the catch and Chahar dismissed Guptill only to give him a death stare. 

Venkatesh Iyer’s first boundary: With nine runs required off six balls, debutant Venkatesh Iyer took strike. Facing his first delivery in international cricket, Iyer smashed Daryl Mitchell for a four. He  picked up a 127ks length ball from around off-stump and hammers it away into the deep mid-wicket fence.