All-round India beat New Zealand by 7 wickets to take 2-0 lead in 5-match series
The hosts got off to a rocky start in their chase of 133 with Tim Southee removing Rohit Sharma in the first over and then coming back to take the prized scalp of Virat Kohli in the 6th over to peg India back.
But KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer steadied the ship and kept the runs coming on a two-faced track in Auckland. Despite Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner's strangelhold, the two rotated the strike well and got the odd boundary to keep up to the asking rate.
But, the duo upped the ante and took India closer to the target before Iyer fell for 44 in 17th over to end the 86-run stand for the third wicket. However, Rahul stayed on and remained unbeaten on 57 to take India home along with Shivam Dube, who finished the game off with a maximum in the 18th over.
India went past the finish line with 9 balls to spare and 7 wickets in hand to extend their lead in the five-match affair.
Rahul's fifty was his 11th in T20I cricket and he also became the first-ever wicketkeeper to hit back to back fifties in T20Is.
Earlier, Exploiting a slow track, Indian bowlers struck intermittently to restrict New Zealand to a modest 132 for five.
Opting to bat, the Black Caps could not generate enough momentum in the middle overs and finished with a sub-par total.
Martin Guptill top-scored with 33 off 20 balls, while Tim Seifert was unbeaten on 33 not out off 26 balls.
Guptill and Colin Munro (26) provided a measured start to New Zealand putting on 48 runs for the first wicket.
Surprisingly, India held back Jasprit Bumrah (1/21) as Shardul Thakur (1/21) and Mohammed Shami (0/22) bowled four overs in the power play. The tactic worked as Thakur got rid of Guptill at end of six overs.
India then used the slow nature of the used-wicket to put brakes on the scoring rate. Wickets came at a regular interval as the Black Caps struggled to pull off big shots.
Yuzvendra Chahal (0/33) and Shivam Dube (1/16) combined well after the powerplay, while Ravindra Jadeja was the stand out bowler with figures of 2-18 from four overs.
Overall, India also raised their fielding effort barring a surprise drop chance from Virat Kohli late in the innings.
Dube got rid of Munro in the ninth over while Colin de Grandhomme (3) failed to get going once again. Jadeja gleefully accepted his return catch.
The hosts were reduced to 81-4 in the 13th over when skipper Kane Williamson (14) became Jadeja's victim, caught in the deep by Chahal.
The wheels had truly come off the New Zealand innings as they were struggling to get the big shots away and squandered their measured start away.
Ross Taylor (18), struggling for timing throughout his 24-ball stay was a prime example. Without Seifert’s effort, including a four and two sixes, the score wouldn’t have achieved any respectability.
Shreyas Iyer walked off the field in the last over after hurting his left knee whilst fielding.
India have a 1-0 lead in the five-match series after winning the first T20I by six wickets.
(With inputs from PTI)
