India beat New Zealand for the first time in T20Is and give Ashish Nehra the perfect parting gift. The Kiwis were beaten by 53 runs in the first T20I at Feroz Shah Kotla. New Zealand batsman were just not upto the task in the first T20I. Nehra got the perfect farewell match as India romped over the Kiwis to register their first ever T20I win against them. The top order did not give them the best of the starts and it all went downhill from there. Kane Williamson, Tom Latham tried to revive the innings but could not keep up with the required run rate. Mitchell Santner tried to minimise the margin by hitting a few boundaries. Nehra bowled the last over of the match as New Zealand needed 61 runs.
Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma shared a record-breaking partnership between them. They stitched up the highest opening stand (partnership) for India surpassing that of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. They are also third overall. New Zealand fielders dropped too many catches to give them any chance. Dhawan and Rohit scored 80 runs each from 55 and 52 balls respectively. Hardik Pandya departed cheaply. While Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni entertained the crowd scoring 25 and 7 runs. They scored one six each in the final over to take India past the 200 mark.
Kane Williamson won the toss, elects to bowl first. Virat Kohli changes the playing XI, Ashish Nehra is back into the side to play in his farewell match. Shreyas Iyer makes his debut too.
Beating New Zealand in the T20I series will prove to be an uphill task for the hosts as India have never beaten the Kiwis in the shortest format of the game. Nehra earlier announced that the 1st T20I against New Zealand would be his retirement match from all forms of cricket if he gets to play. It will be interesting to see whether the last game for Ashish Nehra becomes a new beginning for Virat Kohli & Co. It is highly unlikely that Mohammad Siraj or Shreyas Iyer will get to make their debut in the first match. The Kane Williamson-led side will be looking to dominate the Indians in a format they have excelled and are on the top in the ICC T20I rankings. Whereas India are currently in the fifth position.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Shreyas Iyer, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal
New Zealand (Playing XI): Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson(c), Tom Bruce, Tom Latham(w), Henry Nicholls, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Ish Sodhi
VIDEO: #ThankYouAshishNehra.
Teammates pay their tribute to the fast bowler and relive their fond memories of him.. https://t.co/HWxJJipJRd pic.twitter.com/y7ykeA3pf3— BCCI (@BCCI) November 1, 2017
VIDEO: Ashish Nehra given a memento by the team for his remarkable contribution to Indian cricket #TeamIndiahttps://t.co/3itQO1Ov5u pic.twitter.com/orHnyu3eUB
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 1, 2017
New Zealand wins the toss. Elects to bowl first #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/g8kcmvndMw
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 1, 2017
Ross Taylor is making a comeback into the T20I side of the BlackCaps after a 19-month exile. Taylor was rewarded for his performance in the recently concluded ODI series which the Kiwis fell short of winning marginally.
Squads:
India: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra, Mohammed Siraj.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Trent Boult, Tom Bruce, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (wk), Henry Nicholls, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee.
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