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India whitewash New Zealand in the “meaningless” (pun intended) three-T20I series with a massive win by 73 runs in the dead rubber at the iconic Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Despite the talk around T20I series getting started within 72 hours of the T20 World Cup 2021 final, this will go down as India’s second T20I series win on the trot as they had whitewashed the Kiwis in their own backyard last year.
In 2020, India had beaten New Zealand 5-0 in the T20I series. Even if Kane Williamson was absent from the team, New Zealand more or less had the same set of players who featured in the Super 12 clash in T20 World Cup 2021 barring the injured Devon Conway. As a result, even if the outside noise including a former Kiwi player Mitchell McClenaghan says that the series was played by a tired bunch of Kiwis, it is a whitewash nevertheless.
Kiwi batting collapse
New Zealand opener Martin Guptill turned out to be only batter who posed a threat against Indian bowlers. While Guptill scored 51 runs from 36 deliveries including four fours and four sixes, he barely had support from the other end. Chasing 185, New Zealand were reduced to 30/3 in the fifth over.
Axar Patel derailed the Kiwi run chase early with three big wickets. New Zealand’s T20 WC semi-final hero got out for a score of five whereas Mark Chapman and Glenn Phillips were dismissed for a duck. With Guptill getting out in the 11th over to comeback man Yuzvendra Chahal, the run chase went from bad to worse. After the veteran’s wicket no other Kiwi batter could make an impact as they were bundled out for 111 in the 18th over. In the end, Lockie Ferguson did provide some entertainment with a couple of sixes but it did not make any difference. The 73-run win is India's biggest against New Zealand in the format.
Harshal Patel continued his good run picking two wickets in his second T20I game. On the other hand, the designated all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer got his maiden T20I wicket. Venkatesh bowled three overs, conceded 12 runs and picked up one wicket.
Big-hitting throughout
At Eden Gardens, we got a glimpse of how India will approach T20Is while batting first. India got off a flier with 69-run partnership in the powerplay overs. Skipper Rohit Sharma who won his third toss in the row, went on a boundary-hitting spree while Ishan Kishan complimented him from the other end. Even the wickets of Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant did not slow down the run rate. Rohit kept hitting and scored his 25th half-century in the format. He scored 56 runs from 31 deliveries before losing his wicket in the 12th over.
The Iyers (Shreyas and Venkatesh) did some damage control after Rohit’s wicket and the run rate picked up again. The cameos were followed by another set of cameos as India’s bowling all-rounders Harshal and Deepak Chahar contributed with 11-ball 18 and an unbeaten 8-ball 21 respectively. In the end, India managed to post 184/7 on the scoreboard leaving enough for their bowlers to defend.
