IND vs NZ, 2nd T201: Rohit, Rahul opening partnership guide India to 7 wicket win, seal series
Xtra Time Web Desk: Team India’s new T20I skipper Rohit Sharma and Head Coach Rahul Dravid partnership started with a series win against New Zealand on Friday. The Men in Blue comprehensively outplayed the BlackCaps by seven wickets to take an unassailable 2-0 win in the three match T20I series at the JSCA stadium.
Chasing a modest 154 runs to win, Rohit Sharma (55 off 36) and KL Rahul (65 off 49) gave the hosts a solid century opening stand (117) to virtually sealed the chase.
The Indian skipper is now involved in the most century-plus stands (13), overtaking 12 by Babar Azam and Martin Guptill.
The duo got out in the space of 13 balls but by then India needed just 19 off 27 balls and Rishabh Pant sealed the issue with a straight six over Jimmy Neesham's head in the 18th over to take India home with 16 balls to spare.
The third and final T20I is scheduled to be played at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday.
Earlier, India rode on a tight bowling display by the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel to stymie New Zealand's explosive start and restrict the visitors to a modest 153 for six.
Kiwi openers Martin Guptill (31 off 15 balls) and Daryl Mitchell (31 off 28 balls) took the Indian pacers to the cleaners after being put into bat.
Cruising at 64 for one in the powerplay, the Kiwis suddenly hit a roadblock in the crucial middle overs and managed just 64 runs from 7 to 16 overs with Ashwin (1/19) and Axar (1/26) dominating the New Zealand batters in the dew-laden condition.
Skipper Rohit cleverly used Ashwin and Axar in the middle overs to restrict the run flow.
Ashwin was simply sensational with his variations as the New Zealand batters found it difficult to go after him. Axar got the wicket of Mark Chapman, fresh from a half-century in Jaipur as the left-hander failed to clear the long-on boundary.
The duo's remarkable effort in the middle gave the pace attack some respite and newcomer Harshal Patel, who made his T20I debut four days shy of his 31st birthday, returned with impressive figures of 2 for 25.
