India beat New Zealand to level T20 series

Rohit becomes leading T20 run-scorer

Published: February 08, 2019 21:22:06

India's Krunal Pandya celebrating with teammates after taking the wicket of New Zealand's Colin Munro during the 2nd T20 international match at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday — AP

Captain Rohit Sharma dashed a half-century from 28 balls and Rishabh Pant made an unbeaten 40 as India beat New Zealand by seven wickets in the second Twenty20 to level the three-match series at 1-1 on Friday, reports Agencies.

New Zealand won the first match by 80 runs on Wednesday. The final match is on Sunday at Hamilton.

Left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya bowled an outstanding four-over spell, taking 3-28 as India contained New Zealand to 158-8 as it batted first after winning the toss. He was man of the match.

Sharma set up the India run chase in a 79-run partnership for the first wicket with Shikhar Dhawan, who made 30 from 31 balls, and Pant saw India home in an unbroken 44-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who made 20 from 17 balls.

India reached its winning target with seven balls remaining.

Mainwhile, Rohit Sharma became the highest run scorer in Twenty20 international history on Friday.

The 31-year-old made his T20 debut against England in 2007 and has played 92 matches, averaging 33.15.

Rohit Sharma, with 2,288 runs, overtook New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill, who has 2,272 runs, to become the leading run-scorer in the shortest format and broke several other records during his knock at Eden Park.

With 20 fifty-plus scores in T20Is, Rohit Sharma now also holds the record for most such scores in T20Is. His fifty in the second T20I helped him go past Virat Kohli, who has 19.

Rohit Sharma became just the third cricketer to hit 100 T20 sixes.psy