India secured a comfortable 168-run win against New Zealand in the third T20I at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Hardik Pandya led from the front with four wickets, while Shubman Gill scored a blistering century as India posted a mammoth 234/4 in 20 overs.
Winning the toss and opting to bat first, India made one change, bringing back Umran Malik in place of Yuzvendra Chahal, while New Zealand replaced Jacob Duffy with Ben Lister. India’s 168-run triumph stands as the biggest victory in terms of margin of runs over a Test-playing nation, surpassing Pakistan’s record set in 2018.
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Gill entered the elite list of Indian batters to score a century in the shortest format of the game, and his knock was followed by Finn Allen’s dismissal in the fifth ball of the opening over bowled by Pandya, caught by Suryakumar Yadav. Arshdeep struck with his first delivery, as Devon Conway lobbed a fuller delivery to Pandya at mid-off. Mark Champman got a faint inside edge which went straight to Ishan Kishan off Arshdeep’s last delivery of the over and Glenn Phillips was caught by Suryakumar at slips off Pandya.
Michael Bracewell was cleaned up by a fast delivery from Umran Malik and New Zealand were left reeling, eventually succumbing to India in 12.1 overs for a total of 66. It was a comfortable victory for the hosts, with India romping home in style.
In India’s innings, Rahul Tripathi played a brilliant cameo of 44 off just 22 balls along with Shubman Gill to give India a great start. Gill reached his fifty off just 35 balls. After Tripathi got out, the world’s No.1 T20 batter in the world, Suryakumar Yadav came into the crease and produced a brisk 13-ball 24.
Shubman Gill held one end up and continued his attacking shots, scoring 126 off 63 deliveries. Skipper Pandya scored a 17-ball 30 to take India to a huge score of 234 for 4.
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