Talking points from India's T20I win v New Zealand

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  • A 158-run stand betwen Dhawan and Sharma sent India on their way.

    After a closely fought ODI series, all eyes turned towards the first T20I between India and New Zealand at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday.

    22-year-old Shreyas Iyer was handed a maiden cap for India while veteran pacer Ashish Nehra was handed a spot in the playing XI in his final appearance in international cricket.

    At the end of the day, the hosts took a 1-0 lead in the series after a convincing two-run win over the visitors.

    We look at the key talking points of a high-scoring T20I match at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium.

    Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan an opening pair to be reckoned with

    After Black Caps’ skipper Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to put India in to bat first, he must be ruing that decision as the hosts’ opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma put on India’s highest stand for the first wicket.

    It was only the third time an Indian opening pair put on a century stand in T20Is and the two batsmen surpassed the previous best of 135 between Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir in 2007.

    Dhawan brought up only his third fifty in T20Is before his dismissal for a 52-ball 80 brought an end to a mammoth 158-run stand.

    Sharma meanwhile continued from where he had left off in Kanpur during the final ODI as he brought up his 12th half-century as New Zealand’s bowlers were sent on a leather hunt.

    After a quiet and steady start, the pair burst into life at the half-innings mark as 67 runs were added between overs 10 to 15.

    Ish Sodhi puts the brakes on India with stunning over

    After Dhawan and Sharma had torn into the Kiwi bowling attack to amass 158 runs in 16 overs, leg-spinner Ish Sodhi bowled a spectacular 17th over in the context of the game.

    Making only his first-appearance in the limited-overs tour, Sodhi found grip and turn aplenty at the Feroz Shah Kotla pitch.

    With Dhawan batting beautifully, the 25-year-old spinner outfoxed him with a clever googly after the left-hander charged down the track only to be stumped by Tom Latham.

    With Hardik Pandya coming in at number three ahead of Virat Kohli, the signal of intent from the Indian dressing room was clear.

    Sodhi however set Pandya up with a classical leg-spinner’s dismissal which dipped into the right-handed batsman only to drift away at the perfect length to take the outside edge off the bat into Latham’s gloves.

    To concede only two runs in the death over along with two top dismissals was an impressive effort indeed from the Kiwi leggie.

    Sodhi bowled a terrific 17th over.

    Sodhi bowled a terrific 17th over.

    Virat Kohli’s late cameo gets India across the 200-run mark

    Along with Nehra, it was the Indian skipper too who was playing in front of his home crowd in Delhi and Virat Kohli looked in the mood to entertain alright.

    Coming in at the fall of Pandya’s wicket, Kohli wasted no time in getting off the blocks as he went about giving India the perfect finish.

    The 28-year-old hit three clean sixes, one each in the final three overs, to get India over the 200-run mark after Ish Sodhi’s over had threatened to curtail the hosts’ score.

    His unbeaten cameo of 26 from 11 balls was as entertaining as they come and it capped off a great start by the openers to set New Zealand an imposing target of 203 runs.

    Kohli’s form in the limited over-format has been outstanding recently and he continued his good work from the ODI series where he scored two impressive tons.

    Kohli, along with Dhoni, provided the Indian innings with a perfect finish.

    Kohli, along with Dhoni, provided the Indian innings with a perfect finish.

    India finally win a T20I clash against the Black Caps

    India have a horrible record against the Kiwis when it comes to T20I cricket. Out of the six previous encounters between the two sides, New Zealand have emerged victorious on five occasions with one match being abandoned due to inclement weather.

    Even in the two matches played at home previously against the visitors, India have been trumped on both instances. On Wednesday, Kohli’s men broke that duck with their 53-run win.

    After the hosts had put on a formidable total, the spin combination of Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel stifled the Kiwi batsmen as the four wickets shared between them brought about a New Zealand middle-order collapse and all but handed the match to India.

    The winless run against the Black Caps stretched back to the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 which India had won and so to bring a end to that dismal streak will be a relief for the team management.

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