Rohit Sharma on his way to a fifty in Auckland.
Indian opener and stand-in captain Rohit Sharma today broke a slew of records during the 2nd T20I against New Zealand being played in Auckland. En route his 16th half-century, Rohit surpassed Kiwi opener Martin Guptill to become the highest run-scorer in T20Is in the world.
Along with this he also broke the record of most boundaries in a T20I career by beating the latter who had till date hit 203 fours and sixes. He now has 20 fifty-plus scores in T20Is beating the world leader Virat Kohli who had 19 till now.
Earlier, Krunal Pandya enhanced his already growing reputation as a steady short format bowler with three important breakthroughs as India restricted New Zealand to a below-par 158/8 in the second T20 International here Friday.
The parsimonious Krunal (3/28 in 4 overs) dismissed Colin Munro (12) and skipper Kane Williamson (20) to peg the Black Caps back.
In between, Krunal also got the controversial wicket of Daryl Mitchell (1), who fell pray to an umpiring howler, when 'Hotspot' showed a clear inside edge onto the pads.
However, Colin de Grandhomme, who has played for KKR in the IPL, then counter-attacked, scoring a blistering 50 off 28 balls, adding 77 runs with Ross Taylor (42 off 36 balls) for the fifth wicket.
Once De Grandhomme was sent back to the dug-out by Hardik Pandya (1/36 in 4 overs) and Taylor was run-out, New Zealand's chances of a big total went up in smoke.
It was a much-improved performance by the Indian bowlers with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/29 in 4 overs) removing Tim Seifert (12) in the very third over with a fuller delivery, inducing an inside edge to Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind the stumps.
However, it was Krunal, who really applied the brakes after being brought inside the Powerplay overs.
The elder Pandya quickly found the ideal length, bowling his usual wicket to wicket deliveries with a flatter trajectory.
Both Munro and Williamson got skidders. While the left-handed opener Munro hit one straight to the cover, Williamson was caught plumb in-front.
However, it was the dismissal of Mitchell that once again raised the 'Spirit of Cricket' debate even though it was a clear case of an umpiring howler by TV umpire Shaun Haig.
Krunal angled one into Mitchell, who got an inside edge onto the pads. The on-field umpire adjudged him leg before and he promptly asked for DRS.
As the giant screen showed that a faint edge could be detected by Hotspot, to everyone's dismay, TV umpire Shaun Haig pressed the red button to signal out.
After that, it was left to India captain Rohit Sharma to call the player back but he didn't do so.
At 50 for 4, it was De Grandhomme, who took charge as he attacked Yuzvendra Chahal (0/37 in 4 overs), hitting him for a couple of sixes.
When he was just about threatening to take the game away, De Grandhomme smacked one straight to covers in skipper Rohit's hands.
India bowled 35 dot balls, which could well be decisive in the final context of the match.
Young Khaleel Ahmed (2/27) also polished off two wickets in the end and he and Bhuvneshwar bowled 18 dot balls between them.
(With PTI inputs)
