GUWAHATI: Following two high-scoring games in Nagpur and Raipur going India’s way, the full-house Guwahati crowd must have expected the script to unfold in a similar way here too. But the Indian batting was powered by Abhishek Sharma, and the bowlers had different plans.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!After the bowlers put in a superb effort to restrict New Zealand to a below-par score of 153 for nine, Sharma (68 not out of 20 balls) and skipper Suryakumar Yadav (57 not out of 26 balls) made sure the hosts reduced the T20 International to a T10 game, chasing the target in just 10 overs losing only two wickets.
India also sealed the five-match series in the process, taking an unassailable 3-0 lead here at Barsapara Cricket Stadium on Sunday.Sharma went into record books, scoring the second-fastest T20I fifty by an Indian, behind only his mentor Yuvraj Singh, who had completed the feat in 12 balls. Sharma’s golden duck in the second match in Raipur looked like a dot between two blitzkriegs of innings as he followed up the first game’s 35-ball 84 in Nagpur, with an unbeaten 68 with seven fours and five maximums.As the chase began with Sanju Samson putting more pressure on himself with a golden duck in the very first ball of the chase, man in form Ishan Kishan joined Sharma and the duo hit the stride in tandem to put on 53 runs in just 3.1 overs before the Jharkhand lad picked up the deep midwicket fielder trying to clear a low Ish Sodhi delivery.
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However, Kishan’s departure didn’t slow down India’s scoring rate. In fact, the skipper, back among the runs, now in the middle made life all the more difficult for the Kiwi bowlers. As India’s 360-degree man started where he left off in the last game to score another unbeaten half century with six fours and three sixes, India made short work of the easy chase.Earlier, a superbly executed bowling plan combined with sharp fielding helped India restrict the Kiwis to a below-par total on a pitch which looked a nice one to bat on. India ensured that the visitors never got out of the pressure and saw them lose wickets at regular intervals barring a 52-run fourth-wicket stand between Glenn Phillips and Mark Chapman.Jasprit Bumrah returned after a one-match break to take three for 17 while wristspinner Ravi Bishnoi, a surprise inclusion in place of mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, made an instant impact with two for 18 from his four overs.Bishnoi was making a comeback to the Indian side after almost a year after his last match against England in Feb 2025. Not in very impressive form in domestic cricket this season, Bishnoi bowled a touch quick with great accuracy in pitching to strike at crucial moments on his international return. Hardik Pandya was excellent, bowling three overs for 23 runs and taking two wickets.