India beat NZ by 7 wickets in 2nd T20I

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Patna : India beat New Zealand ( NZ) by 7 wickets in the 2nd T20I at Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand, to level the three-match series 1-1. Set a target of 159 runs, India scored 162/3 in 18.5 overs with captain Rohit Sharma scoring 50 in 29 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes, his 20th T20I fifty, Shikhar Dhawan 30 in 31 balls with 2 fours, and Rishabh Pant an unbeaten 40 in 28 balls with 4 fours and a six. Wicketkeeper M S Dhoni remained unbeaten on 20 in 17 balls with 1 four. Vijay Shankar scored 14 in 8 balls with 1 four and 1 six. Lockie Ferguson, Ish Sodhi, and Daryl Mitchell took one wicket each.

Spinner Krunal Pandya was named Player of the Match. New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said that India’s opening partnership (79 runs) took the game away from us. Pant and Dhoni added an unbroken 44 run partnership for the 4th wicket.

Earlier electing to bat after winning the toss, New Zealand scored 158/8 in 20 overs with all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme scoring 50 in 28 balls with 1 four and 4 sixes, his first T20I fifty. Ross Taylor was run out for 42 in 36 balls with 3 fours while captain Kane Williamson made 20 in 17 balls with 3 fours. Openers Tim Seifert and Colin Munro scored 12 each.

Daryl Mitchell, who fell to Krunal Pandya for 1, was reluctant to leave the crease despite being ruled out by the 3rd umpire in the review. He was asked to go back by the umpires. He was given out lbw by the umpire but he went for review.

For India, Krunal Pandya took 3/28 in 4 overs while K Khaleel Ahmad took 2/27 in 4 overs. Bhuvaneshwar Prasad and Hardik Pandya took one wicket each.

Rohit Sharma with 2,288 runs has now become highest scorer in T20I followed by Martin Guptil of New Zealand with 2,272 runs and Shoaib Malik, Pakistan, 2,263 runs . Virat Kohli is 4th with 2,167 runs in T20I. Rohit has now hit 102 sixes in T20I and now has maximum number of fifties in the T20I.