India vs New Zealand: Abhishek Sharma powers Men in Blue to 1-0 lead in T20I series

by Devesh Jaganath

image India vs New Zealand: Abhishek Sharma powers Men in Blue to 1-0 lead in T20I series
After a disappointing ODI series, India have stormed out the blocks in the T20 leg of the New Zealand tour, recording an impressive 48-run victory in the first match in Nagpur on Wednesday. Abhishek Sharma was once again the pick of the batsmen for the hosts, notching up a record-breaking 84 off just 35 deliveries.
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India go 1-0 up in T20I series against Kiwis with victory in Nagpur

India have come under scrutiny for their recent performances in Test and ODI matches, but they showed why they are the world champions in the shortest format on Tuesday when they claimed an impressive 48-run victory in their first T20I against New Zealand and confirmed our cricket predictions.

Asked to bat first by the Kiwis, the Men in Blue faced a couple of early setbacks with Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan both being dismissed cheaply, leaving the side on 27/2 inside the first three overs of the match at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur. 

However, Abhishek Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav steadied the ship with a solid 99-run partnership for the third wicket before India’s skipper was sent back to the pavilion by Michell Santner for 32 runs in the 11th over. 

Yadav’s dismissal did not affect Sharma, though, as the opener went on to dispatch the Black Caps’ bowlers to all parts, smashing 84 runs in just 35 deliveries, including five 4s and eight 6s at a stunning strike rate of 240.00.

Rinku Singh played an excellent innings at number seven, justifying his recall to the squad after almost a year. He finished not out on 44 off just 20 balls and a strike rate of 220.00, which took his side to a monstrous 238/7 in their 20 overs. 

Chasing the mammoth target, New Zealand lost the wickets of Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra and Tim Robinson for a combined total of just 22 runs. Glenn Phillips top-scored for the Black Caps with 78 runs off 40 deliveries, but they ultimately came up 48 runs short of the target. 

Records tumble in first India vs New Zealand T20I

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In addition to taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, the victory for India in Nagpur also helped set a couple of new records. First, India’s score of 238/7 extended their own record, as it was the 44th time the team had surpassed the 200-run mark in T20I cricket.

To illustrate just how far ahead India are in this category: South Africa have recorded the second-most 200+ scores in T20 cricket, doing so just eight times, followed by Australia with seven, while Sri Lanka have scored above 200 runs on six occasions. 

The Men in Blue now stand alone at the top of this record chart across all T20 cricket, surpassing Somerset, who have notched up scores of 200+ 40 times!

In terms of individual records, Abhishek Sharma etched his name in the history books with his knock of 84 runs off 35 balls, as he shattered the record of West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell to become the fastest player to reach 5,000 runs in the shortest format in terms of deliveries. 

Sharma reached the milestone in 2,988 deliveries, while Russell took 2,942 balls get to 5,000 T20I runs. Additionally, Sharma’s 22-ball half-century in the match marked the quickest fifty in terms of balls faced by an Indian player against New Zealand in a T20, surpassing KL Rahul (23 balls).