New Zealand crush India to level T20 series

RAJKOT, India: Opener Colin Munro hit a blistering century to help New Zealand down india by 40 runs in the second Twenty20 international and level the series at 1-1 on Saturday.

Munro smashed an unbeaten 58-ball 109 to propel the Kiwis to 196-2 and in reply, the hosts could only manage 156-7 at the batting-friendly Rajkot stadium.

Kiwi fast bowler Trent Boult claimed four wickets to flatten the Indian chase despite a valiant 42-ball 65 from Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who got little help from the other end.

Boult hurt India’s reply with his left-arm pace to get two wickets in his very first over and send the openers trudging back to the pavilion.

The left-handed Shikhar Dhawan was bowled for one while Sharma, who scored five, was caught behind as India were left struggling at 11-2 after two overs.

Kiwi bowlers kept chipping away with regular wickets as Munro, who bowls right-arm medium pace, also contributed with Shreyas Iyer’s crucial scalp.

Kohli tried his level best during his fifty-plus partnerships with Iyer, who made 23, and then Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who scored 49, but the climbing run-rate got to him.

The star batsman finally fell to Mitchell Santner’s left-arm spin and with him India’s hopes faded away.

Earlier, Munro put on 105 runs for the opening wicket with Martin Guptill (45), to lay a solid foundation after the Kiwis elected to bat first.

Guptill hit Yuzvendra Chahal for two sixes and a four in the leg-spinner’s first over to make his intent clear.

Chahal finally got his revenge after denying Guptill, who smashed 3 fours and 3 sixes in his 41-ball knock, a fifty but the damage had already been done.

Munro made the most of his two reprieves, on 45 and 79, to register his second T20 ton — in just 54 balls — and pulverise the Indian bowling attack.

Score Board

New Zealand won toss

New Zealand

M J Guptill c Pandya b Chahal         45

C Munro not out       109

*K S Williamson c Sharma b Siraj     12

T C Bruce not out     18

Extras (lb 2, w 10)    12

Total (2 wickets; 20 Overs)  196

Did not bat: †G D Phillips, C de Grandhomme, H M Nicholls, M J Santner, T A Boult, A F Milne, I S Sodhi

Fall: 1-105, 2-140

Bowling: Kumar 4-0-29-0; Siraj 4-0-53-1; Bumrah 4-0-23-0; Chahal 4-0-36-1; Patel 3-0-39-0; Pandya 1-0-14-0

India

R G Sharma c Phillips b Boult 5

S Dhawan b Boult     1

S S Iyer c & b Munro 23

*V Kohli c Phillips b Santner  65

H H Pandya b Sodhi   1

†M S Dhoni c Santner b Boult         49

A R Patel c Williamson b Boult         5

B Kumar not out       2

J J Bumrah not out    1

Extras (b 2, lb 1, w 1)         4

Total (7 wickets; 20 Overs)  156

Did not bat: M Siraj, Y S Chahal

Fall: 1-6, 2-11, 3-65, 4-67, 5-123, 6-130, 7-154

Bowling: Milne 4-0-30-0; Boult 4-0-34-4; de Grandhomme 1-0-10-0; Santner 4-0-31-1; Sodhi 4-0-25-1; Munro 3-0-0-23

Result: New Zealand won by 40 runs

Series: 3-match series level at 1-1

T20I debut: M Siraj (India)

Man of the Match: C Munro (New Zealand)

Umpires: A Chaudhary (India) and Nandan (India). TV Umpires: C Shamshuddin (India). Match Referee: C Broad (England)