Team India has defeated New Zealand by 46 runs in the fifth T20 match played in Thiruvananthapuram. With this, Suryakumar Yadav Brigade has captured the series 4-1. After winning the toss, the Indian team came to bat first and scored 271 runs at the loss of 5 wickets. Ishan Kishan contributed 103 runs in 43 balls, captain Surya 63 runs in 30 balls, opener Abhishek Sharma 30 runs in 16 balls, while Hardik Pandya contributed 42 runs in 17 balls.
In reply, the New Zealand team also made a good start. Finn Allen batted brilliantly and took the Kiwi team beyond 100 in the 8th over itself. He was looking dangerous but Axar Patel derailed New Zealand’s innings by walking him on the last ball of the 9th over. After this, the Indian team took wickets at regular intervals and reduced New Zealand to 225. Arshdeep Singh took 5 wickets for 51 runs in 4 overs. Akshar took 3 wickets for 33 runs in 4 overs.
Arshdeep took the wicket of Tim Seifert (3) in the very first over but Allen kept New Zealand in the match by continuously playing big shots from the other end. Allen scored 80 runs in 38 balls with the help of 8 fours and 6 sixes. Rachin Ravindra scored 30 runs in 17 balls. There was a partnership of 100 runs in 48 balls between the two for the second wicket. However, no one could follow him. Apart from Arshdeep-Akshar, Varun Chakraborty and Rinku Singh were successful bowlers. Varun and Rinku took 1-1 wicket. Jasprit Bumrah gave away 58 runs in 4 overs. He did not even get any wicket.
Batting first, India lost the wicket of Sanju Samson in just 3 overs. Sanju flopped for the fifth consecutive match. He could score only 6 runs on his home ground. Shortly after his departure, Abhishek Sharma was also out. At the end of five overs the score was 48/2. From here, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav laid the foundation of a huge score by making a partnership of 137 runs for the third wicket.
Surya scored 63 runs at a strike rate of 210. He hit 4 fours and 6 sixes in his innings. Shortly after his dismissal, Ishan Kishan completed the first century of his T20 International career. Ishaan hit 6 fours and 10 sixes during this period. By scoring this sensational century before the T20 World Cup, he further cemented his place in the playing XI. For New Zealand, Santner, Jacob Duffy and Kyle Jamieson scored more than 50 runs.
