NOVEMBER 21, 2021
Rohit Sharma’s magnificent 31-ball 56 followed by Axar Patel’s 3-wicket haul paved the way for India’s 73-run win over New Zealand in the third and the final T20I on Sunday in Kolkata. With the win, India completed a 3-0 clean sweep against the T20 World Cup 2021 runners-up. After opting to bat, India posted 184 for seven. In reply, Martin Guptill’s 51 off 36 balls went in vain as New Zealand could only manage 111 all out in 17.2 overs.
With an unassailable 2-0 lead, the Men in Blue will look to continue the winning spree and root for a whitewash. The hosts have been clinical so far in the series and have produced some phenomenal performances with the bat.
While the India batters ticket almost all the boxes, the pacers found it hard to put a check on the run-flow. The likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar were expensive in the previous game as they leaked runs at an economy of more that 9 runs per over.
But Harshal Patel had some different plans on his international debut. His confidence and accuracy went hand-in-hand as the 30-year-old scalped two wickets and was the second-most economical bowler.
Squads:
India: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant(w), Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan, Ishan Kishan, Mohammed Siraj, Ruturaj Gaikwad
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert(w), James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee(c), Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult, Todd Astle, Lockie Ferguson, Rachin Ravindra
