Ind Vs NZ 3rd ODI: India clinch series, defeat Kiwis by 168 runs
India defeated New Zealand on Wednesday by 168 runs to win the T20 series against Kiwis 2-1. Young Indian batsman Shubman Gill single-handedly destroyed the bowling attack of New Zealand and was undefeated at 126. This was the highest score by any Indian player in T20, previously Virat Kohli was holding the record when he smashed 122 (not out) against Afghanistan.
Gill’s bombastic innings came in just 63 balls and included 12 fours and seven sixes. He played at a strike rate of 200. Not just this, at an age of 23 years and 146 days, Gill became the youngest player to have a century in every format of cricket.
In the Indian team also, he is the fifth batter to have centuries in all formats after Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli.
Rahul Tripathi also played a crucial inning as he kept the scoreboard running, and gave Gill time to settle. Tripathi played a wonderful inning of 44 runs, which provided the team with the required stability, after the early loss of Ishan Kishan.
Suryakumar Yadav and skipper Hardik Pandya also made their contribution, but it was Gill catching all eyeballs.
Chasing the massive target, Kiwis naturally came with an aggressive mindset, but skipper Hardik Pandya-led bowling attack, didn’t let them move much and after losing early wickets, the whole New Zealand team went into disarray.
For the bowling side, the day was for pacers. Hardik Pandya grabbed four crucial wickets, while Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, and Shivam Mavi clinched two wickets each.
The series win by a relatively young team will surely boost the confidence of the Indian team. Fans are hoping that the good performance also continues in the One Day International (ODI) format of the game, as 2023 is the year for the ODI cricket world cup.
(With inputs from ANI)
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