NE SPORTS BUREAU
AUKLAND, JAN 24
The immensely talented Shreyas Iyer enhanced his reputation of a finisher with a scintillating 29-ball-58 as Indian Cricket Team crushed New Zealand by six wickets in a high-scoring first T20 International at Eden Park, Auckland on Friday.
Iyer built on K L Rahul’s (56 off 27 balls) blazing start and Virat Kohli’s useful 45 off 32 balls as India made short work of a 204-run target, knocking it off with an over to spare.
Credit should be given to Indian bowlers for restricting New Zealand Cricket team towards the end considering the dimensions of the Eden Park. Earlier, Colin Munro and Kane Williamson had smashed quickfire half-centuries as New Zealand scored 203-5. In pursuit of 204, India lost Rohit Sharma (7) early in the second over as he played one too many shots in a bid to go after spinner Mitchell Santner (1-50).
Rahul and Kohli then took charge of the innings with an 80-run partnership coming off only 47 balls. The duo launched a good array of strokes with seven fours and four sixes between them as New Zealand struggled to contain the runs. India crossed 100 in the ninth over thanks to their whirlwind partnership, albeit both had chances. Rahul survived a mix-up as New Zealand failed to hit the stumps twice, and then Ish Sodhi dropped a sitter off Kohli.
