Ishan Kishan justified his national recall with a sensational 32-ball-76 while captain Suryakumar Yadav scored his first fifty after 23 innings as India decimated New Zealand by seven wickets for a 2-0 lead in the five-match T20 series in Raipur on Friday.
New Zealand, put into bat first, looked dangerous from the start. Despite losing wickets at regular intervals, they managed to post a challenging total of 208/6. For India, the bowling was a mixed bag, with Kuldeep Yadav picking up 2 wickets, while Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh chipped in with one apiece.
Ahead of the all important T20 World Cup, it all seems to be falling in place for India with Suryakumar (82 not out off 37) overcoming a prolonged lean patch and Kishan emerging as a destructive top-order enforcer. India were expected to chase 209 on a belter of a pitch but not with such ease after losing Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson by the second over of the chase.
The skipper played a captain’s knock, blasting an unbeaten 82 off 37 balls. Their partnership of 122 runs for the third wicket completely demoralized the New Zealand attack.
Suryakumar and Shivam Dube (36 not out off 18) closed out the game in a canter as India gunned down the target in 15.2 overs.
