NAGPUR: A Fighting half-century by Glenn Phillips went in vain as New Zealand suffered a 48-run defeat against Team India in the high-scoring opening T20I of the five-match series at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium on Wednesday.
With this win, the Men in Blue took a 1-0 lead in the five-match T20I series against the Black Caps.
Chasing a challenging target of 238 runs, New Zealand were off to a poor start. They lost opener Devon Conway (0) during the second ball of the first over.
In the very next over, all-rounder Hardik Pandya dismissed Rachin Ravindra (1) as the Black Caps slumped to 4/2.
However, Tim Robinson silenced the visitors’ innings as New Zealand reached 33/2 after the end of four overs. After the end of the first six overs, the Black Caps posted 51/2.
During the third ball of the seventh over, spinner Varun Chakravarthy dismissed Tim Robinson for 21 off 15 deliveries, including two fours and one six. After the end of the 10th over, New Zealand posted 87/3.
Glenn Phillips reached his fifty in just 29 deliveries during the fourth ball of the 11th over.
Spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel took the massive wicket of Glenn Phillips during the third ball of the 14th over. The right-handed batter played a fantastic knock of 78 runs off 40 deliveries, including four boundaries and six towering sixes.
In the very next over, Chakravarthy removed Mark Chapman, who scored 19 runs off 24 deliveries with the help of six boundaries as New Zealand slumped to 144/5.
Towards the end, Daryl Mitchell (28 off 18 balls, including four boundaries) and Mitchell Santner (20* off 13 balls with two fours) tried hard, but New Zealand made 190/7 runs in 20 overs and lost the high-scoring contest by 48 runs.
With the ball, Arshdeep Singh (1/34), Hardik Pandya (1/20), Axar Patel (1/42), Varun Chakravarthy (2/37), and Shivam Dube (2/28) were among the wicket-takers for India.
Earlier, after being asked to bat first, a blistering knock by opener Abhishek Sharma and valuable contributions from Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh and captain Suryakumar Yadav guided Team India to a daunting 238/7 runs in 20 overs.
