• Home
  • Cricket
  • New Zealand vs India 2020: Twitter On Fire As Visitors Chase Down 204

New Zealand vs India 2020: Twitter On Fire As Visitors Chase Down 204

By Prince

Updated - 24 Jan 2020, 04:51 PM

Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer (Credits: Twitter)

Table of Contents

Riding on stunning fifties from Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul, India chased down a 204 in the first T20I against New Zealand to take the lead in the five-match series. India chased down the total with an over to spare and won the game by six wickets in Auckland.

Chasing a mammoth total of 204, India started on a shaky note as Rohit Sharma departed cheaply. But that did not stop KL Rahul and Virat Kohli from taking the New Zealand bowlers to the cleaners. The two played their shots at will as they put India on the track for the big chase.

By the time the powerplay ended, India were 65 for 1. Even after the end of the fielding restrictions, Rahul and Kohli kept playing the big shots as the visitors crossed the 100-run mark in just the ninth over. But just when it looked like India would run away with the match, both the well-settled batsmen departed in quick succession.

Rahul was the first to depart when Ish Sodhi sent him back for 57. One over later, Blair Tickner sent back Kohli for 45 to reduce India to 121 for 3 from 115 from 1. Shivam Dube started on a promising note by hitting a four and a six but he failed to convert the start into a big total.

But before New Zealand could make further inroads in the game, Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey steadied the ship and forged an unbeaten stand of 62 run off just 34 balls to take India home comfortably. During the course of the stand, Iyer also completed his fifty off just 26 balls.

Earlier in the match, fifties from Colin Munro, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor propelled the hosts to a mammoth total of 203 for 5 in the allotted 20 overs. Virat Kohli’s decision to bowl first looked like a big mistake early on as Munro and Martin Guptill added 80 runs in less than eight overs for the first wicket. Shivam Dube gave India the first breakthrough when he dismissed Guptill for 30.

But Guptill’s depature did not bring any respite for India as Munro kept playing his shots and found an able partner in captain Williamson. Munro completed his fifty off 36 balls in the eleventh over with a four off Yuzvendra Chahal and hit another four in the same over to take the score past the 100-run mark.

But before Munro could get close to scoring his third T20I century against India, Shardul Thakur sent him packing for 59. A couple of balls later, Ravindra Jadeja sent back the dangerous Colin de Grandhomme for a two-ball duck to put India on top for the first time in the match.

But the joy was shortlived as Williamson and Ross Taylor brought New Zealand’s innings back on track quickly. Williamson kept going strong and reached his fifty off just 25 balls but was out on the very next ball. Taylor went on to score a fine fifty to make sure New Zealand finish strongly but the score was just not enough to ensure a win for his side.

Here is how Twitter reacted to the match:

https://twitter.com/sameer61202/status/1220640663043223553

https://twitter.com/Shahrcasm/status/1220620867295535105

https://twitter.com/ArjunNamboo/status/1220618451305156608

 

Tagged:

India National Cricket Team New Zealand national cricket team New Zealand vs India 2020 Twitter Reactions

Latest News

View All