IND vs NZ: Ishan Kishan ton headlines Indian dominance in Trivandrum, pocket series 4-1

Ishan Kishan was the headline act for India on Saturday (Jan 31) as the hosts beat New Zealand by 46 runs at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. The win also saw India pocket the five-match T20I series 4-1, therefore building momentum ahead of next weekend’s T20 World Cup opener against the USA. Alongside Ishan, Arshdeep Singh scalped a five-for, ending with figures of 51/5 in his spell.

New Zealand left flat

New Zealand were off to a mixed start, losing their opener, Tim Seifert, for five runs as they scored 17 runs. However, Finn Allen played a counter-attacking knock as he raced away to a 22-ball half-century, the fastest against India by a BlackCaps batter in T20Is. New Zealand made 79/1 in six overs. India also conceded their highest powerplay total in T20Is after 78/0 against West Indies in 2016. After the end of eight overs, New Zealand smashed 105/1.

During the last ball of the ninth over, Axar Patel removed dangerous Finn Allen for 80 off 38 deliveries, with eight fours and six towering sixes. After the end of 10 overs, the visitors reached 131/2. Axar got his second wicket as he removed Glenn Phillips for just seven runs during the second ball of the 11th over. In the following over, Arshdeep removed Rachin Ravindra for 30 off 11 deliveries, with four boundaries. During the third ball of the over, Arshdeep removed captain Mitchell Santner for a two-ball duck as the visitors slumped to 138/5.

During the 14th over, Bevon Jacobs and Daryl Mitchell combined to slam 22 runs against ace speedster Jasprit Bumrah as New Zealand reached 166/5. In the very next over, spinner Varun Chakaravarthy dismissed Bevon Jacobs for seven runs. During the 16th over, Arshdeep struck twice - removing Kyle Jamieson (9) and Daryl Mitchell (26 off 12 balls, with two fours and two sixes) to complete his first five-wicket haul in T20I cricket.

Towards the end, New Zealand were bundled out for 225 runs in 19.4 overs, and they lost the high-scoring contest by 46 runs.

What happened in Indian innings?

Earlier, Ishan scored his maiden T20I hundred in just 42 balls as he claimed a place in the Playing XI during the T20 World Cup. His superb innings consisted of 6 fours and 10 sixes while scoring runs in tandem. In fact, Ishan scored 84 runs in boundaries while striking at more than 200.

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Ishan’s ton came after he had already scored 76 in Raipur, showcasing his intentions with the bat. This time, he went a step ahead and scored the ton to help India score a big total.

On the other hand, skipper Suryakumar was also in brilliant form, having scored his third fifty in the series. His innings consisted of 4 fours and 6 sixes. Hardik Pandya (42 off 17) and Abhishek Sharma (30 off 16) were also amongst the runs for India. Sanju Samson, on the other hand, failed to make the most of his opportunities and was dismissed for 6 in the third over. As a result, India ended with 271/5 in their 20 overs.

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For New Zealand, three bowlers went for more than 50 runs during their spell, with Lockie Ferguson being the best bowler with two wickets, while there were wickets apiece for Jacob Duffy, Kyle Jamieson, and Mitchell Santner.