Suryakumar, Ishan power India to dominant win over New Zealand

RAIPUR: A dominant batting display powered India to a crushing victory over New Zealand in the second T20 at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur on Friday. Chasing a target of 209 runs set by the Kiwis, India reached the total in just 15.2 overs, losing only three wickets. Brilliant and rapid half-centuries by captain Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan made the chase easy for India. With this victory, India took a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

Chasing 209, India lost opener Sanju Samson in the very first over after scoring just six runs off four balls. Shortly after, Abhishek Sharma also fell without scoring, leaving India struggling at 6/2.

It was then that Ishan Kishan (76 off 32) and Suryakumar Yadav (82 off 37)* formed a match-winning partnership, adding 122 runs in just 48 balls. After Ishan got out, Shivam Dubey (36 off 18)* joined Suryakumar to finish the chase comfortably. Ishan hit 11 boundaries and four sixes, while Suryakumar smashed nine boundaries and four sixes.

Earlier, New Zealand batted first after losing the toss, scoring 208/6 in 20 overs. Openers Devon Conway (19 off 9) and Tim Seifert (24 off 13) gave a quick start, adding 43 runs in 3.2 overs. Rachin Ravindra (44 off 26) and Glenn Phillips (19 off 13) kept the momentum going, while Daryl Mitchell (18 off 11) slowed the scoring slightly. Mark Chapman managed only 10 off 13 balls.

At 125/3 in 11.2 overs, New Zealand was in a strong position, but they could only reach 161/6 after 17 overs. Captain Mitchell Santner played a brilliant innings, scoring 47 off 27 balls to guide his team to 208. Zakary Fox (15 off 8)* remained unbeaten with him.

For India, Kuldeep Yadav took two wickets, while Hardik Pandya, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, and Shivam Dubey claimed one wicket each.