India beat NZ by 6 wickets in 1st T20I, Iyers remains unbeaten on 58

Speed Post News Network

Patna : India beat New Zealand (NZ) by six wickets in the 1st T20I at Eden Parks, Auckland, New Zealand, as Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey added 62 runs in 34 balls in their unbroken partnership for the 5th wicket. Iyer remained unbeaten on 58 in 29 balls with 5 fours and 3 sixes, a brilliant knock, while Pandey remained unbeaten on 14 in 12 balls with a six. Chasing a target of 204 runs, India romped home in 19 overs scoring 204/4. India, who won the toss but opted to bowl, have taken 1-0 lead in the five-match T20I series. Iyer was declared Player of The Match. Iyer hit fast bowler Tim Southee for 2 sixes and a four in 19th over.

Earlier, India made a poor start losing the wicket of opener Rohit Sharma at 16. Rohit fell to spinner Mitchell Santner for 7 with a six. Lokesh Rahul and captain Virat Kohli then added 99 runs for the 2nd wicket. Rahul fell to spinner Ish Sodhi for 56 in 27 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes making it 115/2. Kohli too fell soon to Blair Tickner for 45 in 32 balls with 3 fours and a six making it 121/3. Shivam Dube fell to Sodhi for 13 in 9 balls a four and a six. India also hit 10 sixes in the match.

Earlier batting first, NZ scored 203/5 in 20 overs with opener Colin Munro scoring 59 in 42 balls hitting 6 fours and 2 sixes, captain Kane Williamson scoring 51 in 26 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes, and Ross Taylor scoring 54 in 27 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes.  Openers : Munro and Martin Guptil (30), added 80 runs for the first wicket. Munro scored 30 in 19 balls with 4 fours and a six. NZ hit 10 sixes in the match.