Indian Cricket Team lead by Virat Kohli defeats New Zealand in First T20 match of this series. It was also Ashish Nehra Last Match in his International Cricket Career. He announced his retirement prior this series. India vs New Zealand Match ended with India winning the match with a record 53 run lead. This is first time when India won a T20 match against New Zealand. The score between 2 teams is now 5-1. Indian Cricket Team now dominates the series by 1-0. This lead will be crucial for upcoming matches.
Dhawan and Rohit scored 80 each
The Indian Batting line up started with Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma. It was also the most of Indian batting. The opening pair stood strong till initial 158 runs as both the batsman completed their half centuries. Later, Shikhar and Rohit were dismissed on 80 runs each. Pandya could not score a single run. Virat Kohli and M S Dhoni showered more runs to complete 202 runs within limited 20 overs of gameplay. Boundaries seemed shorter when Indian Cricket Team Batsman opened their hands for runs. 3 catch drops from New Zealand also helped Indian team.
New Zealand Team came down like a house of cards
Looking at the situation of ground and pitch, a score of 202 runs was not too big for New Zealand. Indian team was praying for early wickets and they managed to bring down New Zealand batsman quite soon. No batsman could score high enough to help New Zealand in this turn. The required run rate kept increasing and Indian Cricket Team maintained the pressure on New Zealand. This is the first time when New Zealand lost to Indian team in a T20 Cricket Match.
Ashish Nehra played his Last Match
Nehra Ji announced this match as his last match prior to the game. Whole Indian Cricket Team came in down with hopes to gift him a victory in his last match. Close family persons from Ashish Nehra family, his wife pushpa and other relatives were present in the stadium to witness Ashish Nehra Last Match. He bowled 4 overs in the match including last over of the India vs New Zealand T20 match. After the victory, whole stadium was shouting “Nehra Ji Nehra Ji”. Ashish Nehra played over 18 years for Indian Cricket Team. He marched a victory parade near the boundary inside the ground along whole team. Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan picked him on their shoulders for a short duration.
Earlier in the game, New Zealand won the toss and elected to bowl first. The match was expected to be tough for India due to weather conditions. The score of 202 settled by India looked tiny as New Zealand opener batsmen entered the ground. It was surely tight fielding and amazing bowling of Indian Cricket Team bowlers that kept the game in hand from the first ball. Farewell Ashish Nehra, thanks for serving the country for more than 18 years.
