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New Delhi: Abhishek Sharma slammed the second-fastest T20I half-century by an Indian batter as the Men in Blue defeated New Zealand by eight wickets in the third T20I to seal their 9th consecutive bilateral series win at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. Abhishek, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan played blistering innings as the hosts chased down the 154-run target in 10 overs.
Chasing the target, the hosts got off to a poor start as Matt Henry removed Sanju Samson for a golden duck on the first ball of the innings. But Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan played ruthless knocks. After Sanju's dismissal, Ishan Kishan put the pressure back on Henry by smashing two maximums and a boundary in the opening over.
Kishan and Abhishek played shots in all parts of the ground, and the Kiwi bowlers had no answers to their assault. They stitched a 53-run partnership for the second wicket. Kishan scored 28 runs off 13 balls and was dismissed by Ish Sodhi in the fourth over.
Abhishek Sharma continued to hit boundaries as he completed his fifty in just 14 balls, which is the second fastest by an Indian batter. He smashed an unbeaten 68 runs off 20 balls, smashing seven boundaries and five maximums. Abhishek stitched a 102-run match-winning partnership with Suryakumar, who also smashed his second consecutive half-century as India chased down the target with 60 balls to spare.
Earlier, the Indian bowlers restricted New Zealand to 153/9. The visitors suffered a massive blow in the first over after being asked to bat first as Hardik Pandya took a stunning catch to dismiss Devon Conway in Harshit Rana's first over. He then removed Rachin Ravindra for 4 runs in the very next over.
Bumrah dismissed Tim Seifert for 12 runs as the Kiwis only managed to score 36 runs in the first six overs. Mark Chapman and Glenn Phillips added a 52-run stand for the fourth wicket, helping the visitors recover.
Bishnoi ended that partnership by dismissing Chapman for 32 runs in the 12th over. Daryl Mitchell hit a boundary and maximums, but was dismissed by Hardik Pandya for 14 runs. Phillips fell two runs short of his half-century and was removed by Bishnoi for 48 runs.
The visitors kept losing wickets at regular intervals in the last five overs and only managed to set a 154-run target. Jasprit Bumrah took three wickets, while Hardik and Bishnoi picked up two each. The Men in Blue delivered a dominating performance to win the five-match series by 3-0 with two more games to go.
