Twitter Reactions: India whitewash New Zealand courtesy of Jasprit Bumrah's stunning spell at Bay Oval
Bumrah was almost unplayable and returned with the figures of 3/12 in his four overs.
India have become the first team to whitewash the opposition in a five-match T20I series ever. New Zealand once again botched up a winning position playing some questionable shots and allowed the tourists to come back in the game. India’s bowling unit did well in the second half of the innings after Shivam Dube conceded 34 runs in the 10th over of the innings. The hosts fell 7 runs short of the target as they could only reach 156 runs after 20 overs.
The 164-run chase began in a worst possible way for New Zealand as they lost three wickets with only 17 runs on the board. While Jasprit Bumrah pinned Martin Guptill in front of the stumps, Washington Sundar castled Colin Munro after which Tom Bruce got run-out thanks to a mix-up with Tim Seifert. However, Ross Taylor and Seifert rebuilt the innings and then took control of the proceedings.
Rather New Zealand were the favourites to win the match after Shivam Dube went for 34 runs in the 10th over. The equation had come down to 66 runs off the last 10 overs. The duo also got to their respective half-centuries but for some reason, the run-scoring went down post the 10th over and India gained control. Both the batsmen got out soon and the panic set in just like it happened in the previous two games.
The visitors kept picking the wickets and though Ish Sodhi tried to make things interesting in the final over, the task of scoring 21 runs was too much for him. New Zealand faced another defeat from a winning position as India completed a whitewash with Bumrah being the star bowler on the day. He returned with the stunning figures of 3/12 in his four overs while Thakur also picked a couple.
Rohit Sharma scores 60 before getting injured
Earlier, India opted to bat first after winning the toss even as they rested their skipper Virat Kohli with Rohit Sharma returning. However, Rohit batted at three to give another chance for Sanju Samson to open the innings and the Kerala batsman threw it away once again. He scored only two runs before getting out to Scott Kuggeleijn in the second over of the innings.
Rohit then joined hands with KL Rahul and got India off to a flyer. The duo once again did a good job for the team stitching 88 runs for the second wicket. Rahul looked good yet again playing some gorgeous shots but was undone by Hamish Bennett. He smashed 45 off just 33 balls taking his tally to 224 runs in five innings going past Virat Kohli to become the highest run-getter for India in bilateral T20I series.
His wicket slowed down the proceedings for India with Shreyas Iyer playing way too many dot balls. Rohit was robbed the strike for the better part of the next three overs. He got to his half-century soon but injured his calf while taking a quick single. Eventually, after hitting a six, Rohit had to walk off retired hurt. Iyer continued to struggle to force the pace and it was due to Manish Pandey’s 11* off just four balls in the final over that the visitors crossed the 160-run mark.
India scored 163 runs for the loss of three wickets after 20 overs as Iyer remained unbeaten on 33 off 31 balls. Kuggeleijn (2/25) and Bennett (1/21) were the pick of the bowlers for the home side and the onus now was on the batsmen to chase the total down. But yet again the Kiwis failed with the bat and once again lost their way after being in the winning position needing 48 off seven overs with seven wickets in hand.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
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