Images from the first T20 International between India and New Zealand, in Jaipur, on Wednesday.
India made heavy weather of what appeared an easy chase before beating New Zealand by five wickets, with two deliveries to spare, in the first T20 International, in Jaipur, on Wednesday.
Skipper Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav hit sublime fifties to put India on course, but the loss quick wickets saw them struggle in the death overs before recovering in time to emerge triumphant.
Martin Guptill (70 off 42) and Mark Chapman (63 off 50) had earlier set up New Zealand’s total of 164 for 6 on a good batting surface.
Rohit (48 off 36) and Suryakumar Yadav (62 off 40), who came in at number three in place of the rested Virat Kohli, put the hosts in a strong position with a 59-run partnership after opener K L Rahul was dismissed in the sixth over.
The home team was cantering, but Yadav’s dismissal in the 17th over, followed by Iyer’s exit in the 19th, made the finish tight.
In the end, with New Zealand running out of bowling options, the job was completed in the 20th over, bowled by part-time pacer Daryl Mitchell.
Debutant Venkatesh Iyer hit his first ball in international cricket for four before Rishabh Pant (17 not out) and Axar Patel (1 not out) took India over the line.
The game marked the start of a new chapter in Indian cricket with Rohit as T20 skipper and Rahul Dravid as head coach.
With both teams resting some of their key players as part of workload management, it was very much an even contest before the first ball was bowled.
India raced to 50 without loss in five overs as Rohit played some delightful shots. He got going with back-to-back fours off Tim Southee in the third over before unleashing his signature front pull on the final ball of the over.
The seasoned pace duo of Southee and Trent Boult were put under pressure upfront by both the openers. Rahul (15 off 14) got into the act with a massive six over deep square leg off Boult before Rohit hit another pull shot to collect 21 from the over.
Rahul fell to a soft dismissal off the first ball of Mitchell Santner's spell, giving New Zealand a wicket against run of play.
Suryakumar meant business from the start and the most memorable shot of his innings was the pick-up stroke off Lockie Ferguson to get to his third T20 fifty.
Rohit and Suryakumar should have finished the game, but from a straight forward 23 off the last 24 balls, India were in a spot of bother as the equation came down to 10 runs off the last over.
Iyer pulled a short ball from Mitchell over midwicket for a boundary to bring the equation down to five from five balls. But Mitchell got revenge off the next delivery, as Iyer played the reverse sweep and was caught at short third-man for 4.
Mitchell bowled wide to new batsman Axar, who then took a single to point.
With three needed from three balls, Pant walked down the track and lofted Mitchell over mid-off for a four to seal victory.
Earlier, Guptill and Chapman scored breezy fifties as New Zealand overcame an early setback to post 164 for 6.
The dup blazed away to put the Kiwis on course for a huge total before Ravichandran Ashwin effected a double strike in the 14th over to check the scoring rate.
Ashwin was the pick of India’s bowlers, with two wickets for 23 in four overs, while senior pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar took 2 for 24 in four overs, including the wicket of opener Daryl Mitchell for a duck off the third delivery of the match.
Expecting heavy dew later in the evening, skipper Rohit Sharma opted to field after winning the toss.
Venkatesh Iyer was expectedly handed a debut while New Zealand made four changes to the team that lost to Australia in the T20 World Cup final on Sunday.
Bhuvneshwar, who looked far from his best in the T20 World Cup, got his trademark swing immediately. After bowling a couple of deliveries that shaped away from Guptill, he sent down an outswinger from length which breached Mitchell's defence.
New Zealand were 41 for 1 in the powerplay after a 15-run over from Deepak Chahar, who was guilty of bowling too short or too full.
The Hong Kong-born Chapman, who began his innings with an aerial cover drive, whipped and pulled Chahar for a four and six in the sixth over to give the innings the much-needed momentum.
India had the run-rate under control until the first overs as New Zealand garnered just 65 for 1.
Three big overs followed as Chapman and Guptill launched an assault on the Indian bowlers.
Chapman collected a four and six off Axar Patel in another 15-run over to bring up his first fifty for New Zealand, having played earlier for Hong Kong.
Guptill too looked in ominous touch at the other end as he deposited a slower one from Siraj over long-off.
Ashwin was brought back into the attack in the 14th and he struck twice at a timely juncture for his team with New Zealand 123 for 3 after 15 overs. He dismissed Chapman with a tossed up off-spinner while Glenn Phillips had no clue about his carrom ball delivery.
However, Guptill kept firing at the other end and the best shot of his entertaining knock came in the 16th over when he dispatched Bhuvneshwar for a flat six over deep extra cover, indicating that the surface was really good for batting.
With Guptill in full flow, even 200 seemed on the cards but the opener was caught in the deep in the 18th over.
India’s bowlers did well in the last five overs, conceding 41 runs and taking three wickets.
