Sanju Samson was dismissed early in the innings, scoring just 10 runs. Ishan Kishan looked good in is short stay at the crease, but failed to score big, getting out for just 8 runs. Abhishek Sharma continued his superb form as he slammed a half-century. He has stitched a crucial 99-run stand with Suryakumar Yadav. The Indian captain departed for just 32 runs. Abhishek Sharma was looking superb but fell for 84 runs.Shortly after Abhishek’s wicket, Shivam Dube too fell for just 9 runs. Hardik Pandya also departed for 22 runs. Axar Patel was the 7th wicket to fall for just 5 runs. Rinku Singh played a brilliant hand at the end, scoring 44 runs from 20 balls, as India slammed a massive total of 238/7, their highest-ever total vs New Zealand.
The Indian bowlers begun the innings with a bang. Arshdeep Singh picked the wicket of Devon Conway in the first ball of the innings. Hardik Pandya then took the wicket of Rachin Ravindra in the second ball of the second over. Glenn Phillips and Tim Robinson then slammed a 50-run stand, before Varun Chakaravarthy picked the wicket of Robinson. Phillips went on to smash a half-century. He was dismissed for 79 by Axar Patel. Martin Chapman also looked dangerous as he scored 38 runs, but Varun Chakaravarthy took his wicket too.
This is a crucial series for Team India as this will be the final set of T20Is that they will play before the T20 World Cup 2026 which begins from February 7.
TOSS: New Zealand won the toss and opted to bowl first.
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH: The India vs New Zealand 1st T20I is being telecast on the Star Sports Network, and live streamed on the JioHotstar app and website.
Playing XIs:
India: Sanju Samson(wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.
New Zealand: Tim Robinson, Devon Conway(w), Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner(c), Kristian Clarke, Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy
Squads:
India: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Shreyas Iyer (first three T20Is), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (VC), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ishan Kishan (WK), Ravi Bishnoi.
New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (C), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Bevon Jacobs, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Robinson, Ish Sodhi.