India beat New Zealand by seven wickets in the second T20I to clinch the three-match series in Ranchi on Friday (November 19).
Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul made short work of the target put up by New Zealand after they were asked to bat first.
Earlier, R Ashwin bowled superbly, bowling tight overs and collecting a wicket as well to help India restrict Black Caps to just 153/6 in their 20 overs.
NZ opener Martin Guptill had given a good start but after he departed, the New Zealand innings lost all the tempo as wickets continued to fall at regular intervals.
Rohit and Rahul were quite exceptional upfront in the chase, putting on 117 for the first wicket that really pushed Black Caps out of the contest.
Guptill played a brilliant innings (31 off 15 balls) that included 3 fours and 2 sixes. The way he began it seemed New Zealand were set to post a massive total on the board. But it was not to be.
After his departure, New Zealand struggled to find the same momentum again. His partner at the top, Daryl Mitchell, struggled to connect as Indian pacers decided to cut the speed on the ball.
Rishabh Pant finishes the game with back-to-back sixes _
India register an unassailable lead of 2-0 against New Zealand.#INDvNZ | https://t.co/lFuMngtM1U pic.twitter.com/aZ1EdSwa1u
— ICC (@ICC) November 19, 2021
Ashwin bowled with a lot of expertise, not giving any room whatsoever to the batters. He bowled his four overs with an economy of 4.80 that really put the brakes on NZ's innings.
Playing his first T20I, Harshal Patel bowled well, picking up two wickets while giving away only 25 from his four overs.
India used five bowlers - Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Axar Patel, Ashwin and Harshal - and all of them picked a wicket at least. Bhuvneshwar and Deepak were costly in the end but they bowled brilliant at the death.
Rohit and Rahul started off the chase cautiously and once they were in, they began to play their strokes. As a result, they were able to put up another 100-run stand for the opening wicket.
India lost a couple of quick wickets at the end in form of Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav but it didn't derail the innings and Pant took it upon himself to quickly finished things off with two consecutive sixes off Neesham.
The series now moves on to Kolkata where the third and last T20I will be played. India may look to test their bench strength in this match while New Zealand would aim to finish the series on a high.
