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

#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.