After a run of matches at home, India are now on foreign soil for the next couple of months. And to kick things off is the T20I series against New Zealand.
Virat Kohli won the toss in the 1st match of the series in Auckland and elected to field first.
The Kiwis seemed to have an easy time, with Martin Guptill racing to 30 off 19 balls, before being dismissed by Shivam Dube, while Colin Munro managed the first of three half centuries of the innings.
Shardul Thakur brought an end to Munro’s innings of 59 off 42 ball – New Zealand 116/2 in 11.5 overs.
That’s when the Kane Williamson-Ross Taylor party began. Their scintillating display led to a 61-run fourth-wicket stand off just 34 balls, with the duo smashing the Indian bowlers around the park.
Williamson was the first to fall, dismissed by Yuzvendra Chahal after having made 51 off 26 balls.
But Taylor’s 54* off 27 ensured that New Zealand made a hefty 203/5 in their 20 0vers.
Things didn’t begin too well for India with Rohit Sharma making his way back to the hut in just the second over.
But that was about the only glitch in an otherwise flawless Indian innings.
KL Rahul and Virat Kohli were going great guns, making light work of the chase when a fabulous diving catch by Guptill brought the Indian skipper’s innings of 45 off 32 balls to an end.
That didn’t deter the Men in Blue though as Rahul along with young Shreyas Iyer continued the charge.
Rahul regularly found the boundary to make sure that India were always comfortable with the asking rate. He was eventually dismissed for a 27-ball 56 by Ish Sodhi with a well-judged catch by Tim Southee.
Shivam Dube fell for 13 off 9 balls and when Manish Pandey joined Iyer at the crease, India still needed 62 off 40 balls.
However, Iyer took charge and an unbeaten 48-run stand with Pandey took India home. Iyer remained not out on 58 off 29 balls. India winning the match by 6 wickets and taking a 1-0 lead in the 5-match series.