Iyer to the fore

Auckland, January 24

Shreyas Iyer guided India to a six-wicket victory over New Zealand in the first T20I at the Eden Park as the tourists showed few signs of fatigue or jetlag. Iyer scored his second T20I half-century with 58 not out and finished the game with his third six as India reached 204/4 to chase down New Zealand’s 203/5 with an over to spare.

KL Rahul and captain Virat Kohli put on 99 runs in 50 deliveries for the tourists, who only arrived in New Zealand on Tuesday after completing a 2-1 ODI series victory over Australia on Sunday. Rahul was brilliantly caught by Tim Southee at mid-off for 56 before Martin Guptill produced an even more spectacular catch at deep midwicket to dismiss Kohli for 45 to give the hosts a sniff of an upset. India’s deep batting line-up, however, ensured that they cantered home with a measured run-chase full of quality.

New Zealand’s innings included half-centuries for Colin Munro, Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson. After Munro put on 80 for the opening wicket with Guptill (30), the loss of the left- hander for 59 and Colin de Grandhomme within a space of three deliveries stalled New Zealand’s momentum.

Williamson (51) and Taylor (54*), however, prospered after two fielding errors by Yuzvendra Chahal and the pair scored 61 runs in 28 deliveries to put their side in a strong position at 178/4 with three overs remaining. Some superb death bowling by Jasprit Bumrah, who rolled his ankle badly when he stood on the seam of the drop-in pitch, and Mohammed Shami ensured they did not kick on. The second game is also at Eden Park on Sunday. — Reuters

Biggest Chase

India recorded their biggest successful chase away from home today. Top-6:

Scored Won against

204 NZ (Auckland, 2020)

201 Eng (Bristol, 2018)

200 Aus (Sydney, 2016)

176 SA (Dhaka, 2014)

174 SL (Colombo, 2009)

174 SL (Colombo, 2017)

Scoreboard

New Zealand

Runs Balls 4s 6s

M Guptill c Sharma b Dube 30 19 4 1

C Munro c Chahal b Thakur 59 42 6 2

K Williamson c Kohli b Chahal 51 26 4 4

C de Grandhomme c Dube b Jadeja 0 2 0 0

R Taylor not out 54 27 3 3

T Seifert c Iyer b Bumrah 1 2 0 0

M Santner not out 2 2 0 0

Extras: (lb-1, w-5) 6

Total: (5 wickets in 20 overs) 203

FOW: 1-80, 2-116, 3-117, 4-178, 5-181

Bowling O M R W

Jasprit Bumrah 4 0 31 1

Shardul Thakur 3 0 44 1

Mohammed Shami 4 0 53 0

Yuzvendra Chahal 4 0 32 1

Shivam Dube 3 0 24 1

Ravindra Jadeja 2 0 18 1

INDIA

Runs Balls 4s 6s

R Sharma c Taylor b Santner 7 6 0 1

KL Rahul c Southee b Sodhi 56 27 4 3

V Kohli c Guptill b Tickner 45 32 3 1

S Iyer not out 58 29 5 3

S Dube c Southee b Sodhi 13 9 1 1

M Pandey not out 14 12 0 1

Extras: (nb-1, w-10) 11

Total: (4 wickets in 19 overs) 204

FOW: 1-16, 2-115, 3-121, 4-142

Bowling O M R W

Tim Southee 4 0 48 0

Mitchell Santner 4 0 50 1

Hamish Bennett 4 0 36 0

Blair Tickner 3 0 34 1

Ish Sodhi 4 0 36 2

Man of the Match: Shreyas Iyer