India defeated New Zealand in the one-over eliminator owing to Rohit Sharma’s spectacular performance. India has now gained an unassailable 3-0 lead over New Zealand in the 5-match T20I series.
Rohit Sharma wins the one-over eliminator for India:
New Zealand had tied the scores with India on 179 runs after Ross Taylor lost his wicket on the last ball of the innings when his team required just 1 run to win. The match then proceeded towards a one-over eliminator to decide the victor.
New Zealand sent Martin Guptill and skipper Kane Williamson to bat in the one-over eliminator against India’s Jasprit Bumrah. The hosts struck 17 runs in the over. Kane Williamson smacked 11 runs while Martin Guptill added 5 runs to the board.
India sent KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma to face NZ’s Tim Southee. Rohit faced the first two balls of the over for just 3 runs. KL Rahul struck a 4 and then took a single to bring Rohit Sharma on strike. India now required 10 runs from 2 deliveries.
It was at this moment that Rohit smacked two back-to-back sixes to Tim Southee as India secured a 3-0 series win against New Zealand.
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Before the one-over eliminator, NZ won the toss and opted to field first. India’s openers started out their innings with some classy power-hitting. Rohit Sharma added 65 from 40 balls, while wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul added 27 from 19 balls. India’s skipper scored 38 runs from 27 balls. Ravindra Jadeja and Manish Pandey pushed their team to a total of 179/5 in 20 overs. Hamish Bennett took 3 wickets but also turned out to be an expensive bowling option for his team after conceding 54 runs in 4 overs.
NZ required 180 runs to win the match. Martin Guptill and Colin Munro opened the innings for their team. Guptill smacked 31 from 21 balls. However, it was Kane Williamson, the New Zealand captain, who brought his team as close as he possibly could to victory with his 95-run innings from 48 balls. The man struck 5 sixes and 8 fours as he missed his maiden T20I hundred by just 5 runs.
Kane Williamson brought his team to 178 runs before he lost his wicket on the 3rd delivery of the last over. NZ just required 2 runs from 4 balls but even that turned out to be a difficult feat in front of the Indian bowling attack as they fell on 179/6 after 20 overs. Rohit was named the “Player of the Match” for his absolute brilliance with the bat.
Both teams will now face each other in the 4th T20I of the series on January 31 at Wellington.
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