Auckland: Mahendra Singh Dhoni watched from the 22 yards distance as his heir apparent Rishabh Pant showed spunk in a tricky situation, guiding India to their maiden T20 International victory on New Zealand soil here Friday.
The seven-wicket triumph was set up by skipper Rohit Sharma (50 off 29 balls) in company of Shikhar Dhawan (30, 31 balls) with a 79-run stand after Krunal Pandya got three wickets to restrict the hosts to 158/8. With his whirlwind fifty, Rohit also became the top run-getter in the format, surpassing Martin Guptill.
India stand-in captain Rohit Sharma on Friday became the highest run-getter in the Twenty20 Internationals, surpassing New Zealand’s Martin Guptill.
Rohit achieved the feat in style, clobbering leg-spinner Ish Sodhi over the fine-leg boundary for a six during India’s chase of 159 runs in the second Twenty20 International against New Zealand here. Coming onto the match, Rohit needed just 35 runs to surpass Guptill (2272 runs), who didn’t play Friday’s match and the right-hander slammed a 29-ball 50 before being dismissed.
Rohit (2288), who achieved the feat in 93 matches, also went past Pakistani all-rounder Shoaib Malik (2263), who is third in the list. India captain Virat Kohli (2167 runs) is placed fourth in the chart ahead of former New Zealand wicket-keeper batsman Brendon McCullum (2140). Rohit, who failed in the first T20, also became the third player in the history of T20 cricket after Guptill and Chris Gayle to hit 100 sixes.
The series is now tied 1-1 with the decider in Hamilton on Sunday. With the former India captain (20 no off 17 balls) playing the role of a mentor at the other end, the 44-run stand was very significant as Indian cricket slowly moves towards a change of guard in coming days.
Pant’s one-handed six off Tim Southee or the bowler’s back drive off Scott Kuggeleijn to finish off the match were reminiscent of Dhoni’s best days. Pant hit four boundaries an
d a six in all. Earlier, Rohit’s flicked six off Kuggeleijn over backward square leg was a treat for the eyes but his dismissal along with Vijay Shankar’s did create a bit of unrest.
However, Pant ensured that they didn’t press the panic button. The innings would certainly help him make a strong case for being included in the World Cup squad. (PTI)
