IND vs NZ 3rd T20I: Shubman Gill’s first T20I ton takes India to 234/4 in series decider
India did not have a very explosive start, but Gill declared the attack with three boundaries to Tickner in the 5th over and did not look back from thereon.
New Delhi: After ODIs, Shubman Gill is thrashing records in T20Is and his century took India’s score to 234 in the third T20I against New Zealand. He scored 126* off just 63 balls to help the men in blue cross the 200 mark on a good bouncy batting pitch. India did not have a very explosive start, but Gill declared the attack with three boundaries to Tickner in the 5th over and did not look back from thereon.
The last over was handed over to Daryl Mitchell, who bowling his first over of the game, gave up just six runs and dismissed Hardik Pandya. Apart from that the Blackcps did not have much to celebrate with the bowling.
After Ishan Kishan was dismissed in the second over, Gill and Rahul Tripathi built an 80-run partnership to get India back on track. Tripathi started slow but finished up with a strike rate of 200 with 44 off 22 deliveries, hitting 4 fours and 3 sixes.
Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya had explosive cameos, scoring 24 off 13 and 30 off 17 respectively. They ensured that the pace of the inning did not slow at any stage of the game.
The show was, for obvious reasons, stolen by Shubman Gill. First, he proved his calibre in the ODIs and now has seemingly proven in the shortest format too. He hit 12 fours and 7 sixes to score his first T20I ton.
Into the night sky & out of the park ??@ShubmanGill is dealing in sixes ?#TeamIndia | #INDvNZ | @mastercardindia pic.twitter.com/OuMivnJXRw
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 1, 2023
New Zealand gave a debut to left-arm pacer Benjamin Lister who could not pick his maiden wicket today. Apart from Mitchell, Bracewell bowled a single over to dismiss Ishan Kishan. Rest, Blair Tickner and Ish Sodhi also picked a wicket each but went for too many runs.
Openers Finn Allen and Devon Conway will be the key for the visitors to chase the score while India will look out to get in form Bracewell early.