India's KL Rahul, left, and captain Rohit Sharma celebrate scoring runs during the second T20 cricket match between India and New Zealand, in Ranchi, India, Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)India vs New Zealand 2nd T20I Highlights: India beat New Zealand by seven wickets in the second T20 International to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three match series here on Friday.
Opting to bowl, India produced a decent bowling effort to restrict New Zealand to a modest 153 for six. Harshal Patel shone bright with figures of 2 for 25, while veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (1/19), Axar Patel (1/26), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/39) and Deepak Chahar (1/42) picked up a wicket each. Glenn Phillips (34 off 21), Martin Guptill (31 off 15) and Daryl Mitchell (31 off 28) were notable contributors for New Zealand. India chased down the target with consummate ease with K L Rahul (65 off 49) and skipper Rohit Sharma (55 off 36) stitching 117 runs for the opening wicket. India, thus, took a 2-0 lead in the series, having won the first match by five wickets in Jaipur.
India
155/3 (17.2)New Zealand
153/6 (20.0)India beat New Zealand by 7 wickets
18th over about to start. The last over ended with a 4, hit by Venkatesh Iyer. Neesham in the attack now. And a 6 to start by Rishabh Pant. What a shot. It went high and just about cleared the boundary. And over. Pant seals it with back to back sixes. IND win by 7 wickets.
And Sharma is gone. Simple catch to Guptill. It's a gift. Southee takes the important wicket. IND are 2 down. And another one is down too. SKY departs. Drags it on to his wicket. IND 137/3 after 16 overs.
15th over starts. Rohit still looking for his 50. And Iyer off the blocks with a 4. Streaky boundary off the inside edge of the bat. Can Iyer finish this match along with his skipper? And a 6 by Rohit. Gets his 50 in style. IND 134/1 after 15 overs.
14th over starts. Rohit will look to get his 50 in this over. And New Zealand finally has a breakthrough. Rahul skies a slower delivery and it's caught by Philips. IND 117/1
13 Rohit Sharma*
12 Babar Azam/Martin Guptill
11 David Warner
And every over is starting to look the same now. Santner is getting absolutely punished. Massive 6 by Rohit. 11 off the over ultimately. IND 116/0 after 13 overs.
The 12th over start. Can India reach 100 in this one? The way these two are playing, it looks likely. And yes, Rohit hits a 4 off the 4th ball as 100 comes up. And another 4 to end the over by Rahul. IND 105/0 after 12 overs.
Milne to bowl the 11th. New Zealand need a breakthrough and they need it fast. And rahul hits the next ball for a 6 and the one is hit for a 4. And a 50 for Rahul. 13 off the over. IND 92/0 after 11 overs.
10th over now. And Santner has been hit for a 6 by Rohit. Finally, a long awaited boundary. And another 6 by Sharma. India gains momentum. Much-needed. And Boult has put down Rohitv Sharma. No breakthrough. 16 off the over. IND 79/0 after 10 overs.
9th over about to start. The last over went for 5 runs while the 7th over went for 7. Sodhi to bowl this one. 3 off the first 4 balls. Turning into a good spell for the NZ bowlers. And a change in the ball. The last one seemed damaged. It's been a while since the last boundary. 6 off the over. IND 63/0 after 9 overs.
After scoring just two runs in Southee's second over, India get a move on through Rahul (32*). The batter takes on Boult on the very first ball of the over and smacks a six off the back foot over cover! Rohit's on 10*. IND: 45/0 (6 overs)
Milne comes into the attack. On the third ball, Rahul (22*) hits his fourth boundary of the innings, flicking it well over mid-wicket. Rohit (8*) too joins the party by hitting a six. He pulls nicely over deep square leg. IND: 32/0 (4 overs)
After two brilliant boundaries in Boult's opening over, Rahul continues to shine infront of the Ranchi crowd. Santner comes into the attack and he slows down the opening pair of India. Just two runs off the over. IND: 18/0 (3 overs)
KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma open the chase for the hosts as Tim Southee restarts the proceedings. Rahul (7*) starts off well, hitting a boundary over the second slip on the very first ball. The pacer ends the over well. IND: 8/0 (1 over)
Harshal Patel (2/25): "It's a great feeling playing for the country. I love the game and the ultimate goal for any player is to play for the country, it's an honour, it's a privilege and I'm not going to take it for granted. Rahul [Dravid] sir has always told me that once you are done with the preparations, you gotta go out there and enjoy the game. After 9-10 years of domestic cricket and on the back of a good IPL I've reached here, so it's a satisfying moment for me."
The last over starts. The 19th over just went for 6 runs. What a spell by Harshal. Great debut. Chahar to bowl the last over. 2 off the first ball. Another 2 to follow. Both balls were hit high and just landed in no man's land. 150 up for NZ now.Great over. NZ end at 153/6 after 20 overs.
18th over now. Bhuvi to finish his spell. He has been expensive. Can he finish well? Just 2 off the first two balls. And a bat has been broken. No one knows where the ball is. Everyone was looking at the piece of wood rather than the ball. And is this a wicket? Yes. Nicked behind. Neesham is gone. NZ 140/6 after 18 overs.
17th over about to start. Indian bowlers have done a great job in stemming the Kiwis' runs. Welcome to international cricket, Mr Harshal Patel. Straight for a 6 by Philips. Picked this nicely and delayed the bat swing, thumped it all the way over long-on. And a no ball in the second ball. It just slipped from his hand. Dew coming into play. Good comeback delivery. No run off the free hit. And Philips is gone. Patel is just on fire tonight. Slower ball, into the wicket, pull shot. Man on the fence and taken. Second wicket for Harshal Patel. NZ 137/5 after 16.3 overs.
And no 4 is down. Seifert tries to play a reverse sweep and it's gone straight to short third man Bhuvi. Ashwin gets his wicket. NZ are struggling now. NZ 125/4 after 15.2 overs.
15th over now. Bhuvi back in the attack. First two balls yields 2 singles. The third is a wide. And a 6 by Philips. Bhuvi is clearly not having a good time in this match. It's powered down the ground. 11 off the over. NZ 125/3 afterv 15 overs.