“Bilateral tera, knockouts mera” – Fans erupt as Hardik Pandya and Co. beat New Zealand in T20I series decider

Hardik Pandya and Co. beat New Zealand in the T20I series decider by a mammoth 168 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, February 1.

A clinical bowling performance helped the hosts bowl out the Kiwis for just 66 runs in 12.1 overs. Captain Hardik Pandya led from the front with career-best figures of 4/16. Meanwhile, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik and Shivam Mavi shared two wickets each. Suryakumar Yadav also shone on the field with his three exceptional catches.

Daryl Mitchell top-scored for the visitors with 35 runs as the other Kiwi batters had an off day.

Fans were delighted to witness another thumping victory by Team India in the T20Is. Here are some of the best memes/ Twitter reactions:

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Shubman Gill shines as Hardik Pandya and Co. seal another T20I series at home

Earlier in the day, Shubman Gill scored an unbeaten 126 off 63 balls, including seven maximums and 12 boundaries, as India won the toss and elected to bat. The right-hander recorded the highest individual score by an Indian in the shortest format, eclipsing Virat Kohli (122*).

The 23-year-old also joined Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul on the elite list of batters with centuries in all three formats.

Gill’s heroics helped Team India post a mammoth 234/4 in their allotted 20 overs. Rahul Tripathi also hit a quickfire 44 off 22 balls, while Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav contributed 30 and 24, respectively.

For the Blackcaps, Michael Bracewell, Daryl Mitchell, Blair Tickner, and Ish Soshi took one wicket apiece.

With another series win, Hardik Pandya and Co. also completed a hat-trick of series wins in T20Is after the T20 World Cup 2022. They recently beat Sri Lanka (2-1) and New Zealand (1-0 away from home) in November last year.

The action will now shift to the four-match Test series against Australia, which begins in Nagpur on Thursday, February 9.

India’s squad for the first two Tests against Australia: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.