New Delhi: It was an Abhishek Sharma show at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Wednesday as the left-hander dasher powered India to
a mammoth total against New Zealand in the first T20I. Put into bat first, Abhishek led the way for the hosts as the Men in Blue gave a gigantic target of 239 runs for the Kiwis to chase in the series opener, with Rinku Singh scoring a blistering 44 runs towards the end.
Continuing his sensational form, the opening batter slammed 84 runs off just 35 deliveries to set the Nagpur cricket stadium on fire. He completed his half-century in just 22 balls, thereby registering the fastest fifty by an Indian batter against New Zealand in the shortest format. He thus broke the previous record held by KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma who had slammed a half-century each against the Kiwis in 23 balls.
Samson, Ishan disappoint
India lost Sanju Samson early in the innings for just 10 runs, with comeback man Ishan Kishan also losing his wicket cheaply on 8 but Abhishek stood tall for the hosts along with skipper Suryakumar Yadav, who found some form with the bat. En route his lethal knock, Abhishek slammed as many as 8 sixes and 5 boundaries to push the Kiwi side against the wall.
Meanwhile, Suryakumar, who looked promising during the contest, scored 32 runs off 22 balls studded with four boundaries and a six but failed to take his innings ahead. Hardik Pandya, who is known for his flamboyant innings, added 25 runs to the overall total while Rinku played an unbeaten knock of just 20 balls including four boundaries and three sixes to help India cross the 200-run mark.
For the visiting side, Kyle Jamieson and Jacob Duffy made some impact with the ball claiming two wickets each while Kristian Clarke, Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner also contributed a wicket each but failed to stop the India batters.
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