India vs New Zealand 1st T20I 2017: 5 reasons why India won in Delhi

The first T20 International between India and New Zealand turned out to be a special outing for the Men in Blue. It was not because they were comprehensively able to beat the Kiwis, but for the fact that it was India’s maiden victory in T20Is against New Zealand in six attempts.

Before the start of the game, the odds were stacked against India, based on New Zealand’s dominance over the hosts this format. However, the hosts have been on a rampage and hence on current form, they clearly had the upper hand. The Indian batting did not disappoint as they posted a massive total of 202.

Thereafter, the Indian bowlers choked the Kiwi batsmen and never allowed them to get going in their chase. The hosts, eventually, restricted the Kiwis to a modest score of 149/8 and won the game by 53 runs.

In the slideshow, we take a look at five reasons why India won the game at the Feroz Shah Kotla.

#5 Spinners turning the screws on the New Zealand batsmen

When T20 cricket came to the fore, spinners were expected to be bashed into ignominy. However, as the format has grown, the essence of spinners has escalated, so much so that they have turned out to be crucial elements of a bowling lineup. On a flat pitch at the Feroz Shah Kotla, the Indian spinners bowled magnificently to put a lid on the Kiwi batsmen.

Yuzvendra Chahal has been outstanding for India in limited-overs cricket and he replicated the same form in the first T20. He bowled the second over in New Zealand’s run-chase and immediately got rid of Martin Guptill. He also nipped out the wicket of Tom Latham and returned with figures of 4-0-26-2.

Axar Patel was also outstanding with the ball and hardly dished out freebies to the Kiwi batsmen. With the wickets of Tom Bruce and Colin de Grandhomme, he also finished with excellent bowling figures of 4-0-20-2.

#4 Poor fielding by the Kiwis

Dhawan was dropped by Santner

Catches win matches- As per the saying, holding on to catches is essential to emerge victorious, more so in the shortest format of the game. However, the New Zealand players dropped a couple of catches, which turned to be pivotal in the context of the game.

The pitch at the Kotla was a batting paradise and quite understandably, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan looked to tee off from the word go. However, they provided the Kiwis with a couple of opportunities, which they were unable to latch on to.

Dhawan was dropped on a score of 8 by Mitchel Santner, while Tim Southee spilled Rohit Sharma’s catch at long-off. Dhawan and Sharma, eventually, piled on the agony for the Kiwis and scored 80 runs each.

#3 Virat Kohli’s cameo

Kohli was brilliant towards the end

Virat Kohli is generally known for building an innings and the accelerating. However, the captain was in a different zone in this innings as he astounded the Dehi crowd with a swashbuckling innings of 26 runs from 11 balls.

After the fall of the first wicket in the form of Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya came to bat, but he fell to a ripping leg-spin by Ish Sodhi. However, Kohli teed off from the very first ball and managed to clear the ropes thrice in his 11-ball stay.

This knock gave the last kick to the Indian innings, which took India over the 200-run mark. T

#2 Getting the early wickets of Guptill and Munro

Munro was castled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar

In order for New Zealand to chase down a mammoth target, they required their openers- Martin Guptill and Colin Munro to come out all guns blazing. However, New Zealand lost both of them pretty early, which put them on the back-foot.

Guptill was dismissed by Yuzvendra Chahal in the second over of the New Zealand innings. The right-handed batsman played a lofted stroke, but Hardik Pandya dived full-length to his right to pull off a sensational catch.

Munro didn’t survive for long either as a yorker by Bhuvneshwar Kumar went through his defense to cannon into the stumps. After the early jolts, the Kiwis weren’t able to get themselves back into the contest and stumbled throughout the run-chase.

#1 Openers clicking for India

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan partnership set the tone for India

The Indian batsmen have been in fine touch recently. Both Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have performed consistently for India over the past few years. In order to break India’s losing streak in T20Is against the Kiwis, the openers had to step up.

They did it with precision as they stormed their way to an opening stand of 158 runs in 16.2 overs. Meanwhile, the stand broke India’s highest opening-partnership of 136 between Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, which was set way back in 2007 against England.

The duo blended caution with aggression and took the New Zealand bowlers to the cleaners. They were pretty severe on the fast bowlers as all of Boult, Southee, de Grandhomme and Munro conceded runs at an economy rate of above 11.