It was pure carnage. India absolutely hammered the Kiwis to record the biggest win ever in T20Is! That’s how clinical the win was.

Batting first, India rode comfortably on Shubman Gill’s unbeaten 126 to post  234/4 in 20 overs. Rahul Tripathi (44) and Hardik Pandya (30) played crucial cameos along the way. Chasing a mammoth target, New Zealand were riddled by early bowling onslaughts from the Indian skipper, Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik within the powerplay overs. And they never ever recovered!

Gill maange more!

With just 76 runs in five T20I innings, Shubman Gill was poised for a big knock after his exploits in the ODI series. Tonight, the opener gave cricket fans what they wished for.

He faced 35 deliveries to reach his maiden half-century but doubled it up in just 19 balls! In the end, he remained unbeaten on 126 (12 boundaries, seven sixes), which now is the highest individual score by an Indian in T20Is. Furthemore, Gill becomes the fifth Indian to have a hundred in all formats of cricket after Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli.

India finished with a first-innings score of 234/4, their highest team total against the Black Caps in T20Is.

SKY activates aeroplane mode

Aapla dada SKY is one of India’s best fielders in cricket, but he went up a notch tonight; not once but TWICE.

First in the opening over and then in third over, Hardik Pandya forced Finn Allen (0.5 overs) and Glenn Phillips (2.4) to push for a shot above the slips. However, a confident Suryakumar Yadav would take leaps of faith to complete the dismissals of the New Zealand batters in similar fashion.

Talk about being a dreamcatcher for the skip on the field!

Hardik Pandya’s All-star act

Hardik Pandya shone with the bat early in the innings with a 17-ball 30, but his bowling did the talking. With a spell of 4/16, his career-best figures, the skip helped the Men in Blue cut short New Zealand’s chance to build momentum early into their run chase. 

Brief Scores

India 234/4 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 126*; Daryl Mitchell 1/6) beat New Zealand 66 in 12.1 overs (Daryl Mitchell 35; Hardik Pandya 4/16) by 168 runs.