India beat NZ by 7 wickets in 2nd T20I, take 2-0 lead in five-match series

Speed Post News Network

Patna : India beat New Zealand (NZ) by 7 wickets in the 2nd T20I at Eden Parks, Auckland, New Zealand, with opener Lokesh Rahul scoring an unbeaten 57 in 50 balls hitting 3 fours and 2 sixes, his second successive fifty, and Shreyas Iyer scoring 44 in 33 balls with 1 four and 3 sixes including two off spinner Ish Sodhi.

Chasing a target of 133 runs, India scored 135/3 in 17.5 overs with 15 balls to spare. All-rounder Shivam Dube hit the winning six of pacer Tim Southee.  India have thus taken 2-0 lead in the five-match T20I series. Lokesh Rahul was declared Player of the Match.

Rahul and Iyer added 86 runs for the 3rd wicket. Opener Rohit Sharma fell to Tim Southee for 8 in 6 balls hitting 2 fours making it 8/1. Captain Virat Kohli also fell to Southee for 11 and it was 39/2. Iyer fell to Ish Sodhi for 44 and it was 125/3. Shivam Dube remained unbeaten on 8 in 4 balls hitting a six.

Earlier electing to bat after winning the toss, NZ scored 132/5 in 20 overs with openers Martin Guptil and Colin Munro scoring 33 and 26 runs respectively adding 48 runs for the 1st wicket. Guptil fell to fast bowler Shardul Thakur for 33 in 20 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes.

Munro fell to all-rounder Shivam Dube for 26 in 25 balls with 2 fours and a six and it was 68/2. All-rounder Colin de Grandhomme fell to spinner Ravindra Jadeja for 3 making it 74/3. NZ captain Kane Williamson also fell to Jadeja for 14 and it was 81/4. after 12.3 overs. Ross Taylor fell to fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah for 18 and it was 125/5. Tim Seifet (wk) remained unbeaten on 33 in 26 balls with 1 four and 2 sixes.

Although NZ openers gave a solid start to their team, Indian bowlers restricted them to just 132/5 in 20 overs. NZ captain Williamson gave credit to the Indian bowlers.