New Zealand opener Colin Munro brought up his second T20I century on Saturday (November 4) to help his team level the ongoing three-match series against India. The left-hander made full use of India's catching errors to hit a 58-ball unbeaten 107 on a batsman-friendly, thereby leading his side to a 40-run win over the hosts at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
In reply, India captain fought a lone battle with a 42-ball 67 that was filled with delightful strokes, but it was not enough for the home side to gun down the 197-run target. New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult was on the money on a flat deck, picking up four wickets, including the big scalps of openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan.
Visitors' captain Kane Williamson had no hesitations about batting first after winning the toss in the evening.
Solid opening stand
Martin Guptill and Munro made sure their captain did not regret his decision as they put 105 runs for the opening stand. The latter hit seven sixes and seven boundaries and even made sure he stayed till the end of the innings.
Even on the flat track, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah were consistent as usual, conceding only 52 runs between them in 8 overs. However, debutant Mohammed Siraj was taken to the cleaners (53 for 1). Spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel also struggled to get anything out of the wicket while all-rounder Hardik Pandya just bowled one over, which went for 14 runs.
Boult strikes once again!
Meanwhile, Boult gave New Zealand the much-needed start with the ball by picking up both Dhawan and Rohit, who put on a century stand in the first T20I in New Delhi, inside the powerplay.
Shreyas Iyer, who was promoted ahead of Kohli, showed some promise but the young Mumbai batsman was not able to convert his start into a big innings.
Dhoni struggles
While Hardik Pandya did not trouble the scorers on Saturday, MS Dhoni struggled to put bat to ball, thereby putting more pressure on his partner Kohli, who finally was deceived by Mitchell Santner. The former India captain hit some big ones towards the end of the game, but by then it was too late.
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