The Rohit-Rahul first series, fine show

By Mohammed  Rumman Khan | NT

India beat New Zealand by seven wickets in the second T20 International to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series in Ranchi on Friday.

With this win, India have bagged their fifth consecutive bilateral T20I series at home.

Opting to bowl, Men in Blue didn’t get off to the best of starts, with Martin Guptill clattering 31 off 15 as New Zealand dominated their powerplay. But the bowlers, led by R Ashwin and the debutant Harshal Patel, pulled things back magnificently. Overall, 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.

Both openers, Rahul and Rohit, made half-centuries during which their calculated risks came off at just the right times to ensure that a potentially tricky chase proved more or less straightforward, even if there was a minor blip towards the end with three wickets falling for the addition of 20 runs.

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. -(With inputs from Agencies)

BRIEF SCORES

NEW ZEALAND 153 for 6 in 20 overs (Glenn  Phillips 34, Martin Guptill 31,  Daryl Mitchell 31; Harshal  Patel 2/25).

INDIA 155 for 3 in 17.2  overs (KL Rahul 65,  Rohit Sharma 55;  Tim Southee 3/16).