India vs New Zealand Highlights 3rd T20: India complete 3-0 clean sweep against New Zealand
India vs New Zealand Live Score 3rd T20: It was yet another comprehensive victory for Rohit Sharma and co. as India beat New Zealand by 73 runs to secure a 3-0 clean sweep in the T20I series. This was India's second-successive clean sweep victory against New Zealand in a T20I series, having registered a 5-0 win over the Kiwis at their own turf in January 2020. India's lower-middle order played a key role in steering India to a strong total of 184/7 before Axar Patel (3/9) rocked the New Zealand run-chase with three quick wickets early on. The Kiwis could never recover from the setback and were eventually bowled out on 111.
Rohit Sharma, Axar patel shine as India thrash New Zealand in 3rd T20I to sweep series
India win!
Deepak Chahar picks the final wicket! India win by 73 runs! This is India's biggest victory over New Zealand (by runs). An excellent effort from the bowlers – Axar Patel (3/9) in particular – steered India to a 3-0 clean sweep against the Kiwis.
Wicket no.9!
Harshal picks his second. Ish Sodhi departs on 9! He is caught at long-on boundary by Suryakumar Yadav.
New Zealand 94/9 in 16.2 overs. Target - 185
Venkatesh Iyer with a maiden wicket!
New Zealand go eight down! Adam Milne becomes Iyer's first wicket in international cricket. Milne hits it straight towards Rohit Sharma at cover.
New Zealand 93/8 in 15.1 overs. Target - 185
Another run-out!
New Zealand have dug their own grave. Ishan and Pant combine again as the Kiwis lose their seventh. Brilliant work from Ishan yet again as he picks the delivery from cover and throws it perfectly towards Pant to dismiss captain Mitchell Santner.
New Zealand 84/7 in 13.1 overs. Target - 185
WHAT A CATCH!
Take a bow, Rishabh Pant! James Neesham falls on 3. Neesham swings the bat across and the ball finds a top edge, going over wicketkeeper's head. Pant swirls backwards, runs towards right before taking a sharp left and barely holds on to the ball.
New Zealand 83/6 in 13 overs. Target - 185
Run Out!
Further misery for New Zealand. Tim Seifert angry with himself as he is dismissed on 17. Good throw from Ishan Kishan and an equally impressive collection from Rishabh Pant, as the two wicketkeepers combine to dismiss the opposition wicketkeeper-batter Seifert! There was never a second there.
New Zealand 76/5 in 12 overs. Target - 185
Chahal strikes!
Yuzvendra Chahal picks his first wicket of the innings and it's the big one! Martin Guptill departs on 51. Brilliant recovery from the leg-spinner after shaky first-two overs, as he pulls back his length a little this time. Guptill, wary of the required run-rate, goes for a big hit but fails to clear the long on boundary.
New Zealand 70/4 in 11 overs. Target - 185
New Zealand 68/3 in 10 overs; Target - 185
Martin Guptill reaches his half-century in the 10th over of the innings. The opener remains paramount to New Zealand's chances in this run-chase and he needs to carry on with a similar strike-rate throughout the rest of the innings.
Wrong lines from Chahal
Chahal leaks 16 runs from the ninth over. Poor lines from the leg-spinner, as he bowls one down-the-leg for an easy four before bowling full and outside-off for Guptill to smack it into the stands.
New Zealand 61/3 in 9 overs; Target - 185
An exhibition from Harshal
Brilliant variations in pace from Harshal Patel across the six deliveries of his first over as he concedes only four. Tim Seifert, in particular, having difficulty in judging the slower ones from Harshal.
New Zealand 45/3 in 8 overs
Tight from Iyer
He concedes only four off his first over. Keeps the ball largely back of the length, not allowing a dangerous Martin Guptill much room outside off.
New Zealand 41/3 in 7 overs. Target - 185
Venkatesh Iyer bowls for the first time
Iyer gets the ball for the first time in his international career. He has 29 wickets in 55 T20s.
New Zealand 37/3 in 6 overs
Excellent start for India courtesy Axar Patel. Brilliant captaincy from Rohit to bring spin early in the Powerplay, as the Kiwi batter throw their wickets away trying to attack the left-arm spinner.
It's Axar again!
Third wicket for the spinner! What a start for the bowler. Glenn Phillips goes for a duck. The batter goes for a reverse-sweep but he misses the line as Axar bowls it towards leg. The ball hits the stumps as New Zealand lose their third wicket.
New Zealand 30/3 in 5 overs. Target - 185
AXAR PICKS TWO IN AN OVER!
Chapman departs on a duck! This is excellent from Axar Patel. Flighted delivery from the spinner and Chapman gets tempted to walk out of the crease. He completely misses the line, however, and Rishabh Pant does the rest of the work behind the stumps.
New Zealand 22/2 in 3 overs. Target - 185
WICKET!
Mitchell dismissed! Axar Patel strikes. A tossed up delivery from Axar and the batter looks to play the lofted shot. However, he mistimes it towards cover-point as Harshal Patel catches it safely.
New Zealand 21/1 in 2.1 overs
CATCH DROPPED!
Oh Deepak Chahar, what have you done? It would've been an otherwise easy catch for the fielders at mid-on and mid-off, but Chahar went for the catch off his own delivery and was caught at an awkward angle, and eventually dropped Guptill.
New Zealand 21/0 in 2 overs
First boundary for New Zealand
Martin Guptill gets off the mark with a four! A brilliant shot over cover from the New Zealand opener.
New Zealand 5/0 in 1 over. Target - 185
Let the chase begin!
Martin Guptill and Daryl Mitchell open for New Zealand. Bhuvneshwar Kumar to bowl the first over.
India 184/7 in 20 overs
A brilliant cameo from Deepak Chahar, who scores 19 runs off the final over of the innings to steer India to a competitive total at Eden Gardens. Venkatesh Iyer (20), Harshal Patel (18) and Deepak Chahar (21*) were key in the lower-middle and lower order, which, perhaps, is the biggest positive for India in this game so far.
Wicket!
Harshal Patel is dismissed on 18. A decent cameo from Harshal. Bizarre way to get dismissed, however, as he is out hit-wicket. Lockie Ferguson with his first wicket of the game.
India 165/7 in 19 overs
150 up for India
India reached the mark in 17.3 overs. Both batters would be aiming to score as much as possible from now on, as dew factor is set to put New Zealand in advantage in the second innings.
India eye competitive total
After the two Iyers, it is time for the two Patels (Axar and Harshal) to take India to a competitive score in the 3rd T20I. Harshal Patel gets off the mark with a boundary.
India 148/6 in 17 overs
Shreyas falls
Iyer departs on 25. The two Iyers were looking good, but in a matter of two overs, both are back in the hut. Adam Milne gets his first as Shreyas is caught at long-on.
India 140/6 in 16.1 overs
Venkatesh Iyer departs on 20
The left-hander goes for a big hit but is caught. Boult picks his first wicket. The bowler outsmarts Iyer with a slower delivery and the batter, who had already committed to a straight shot, miscues it to deep midwicket.
India 140/5 in 16 overs
India 134/4 in 15 overs
A confident start from both, Shreyas and Venkatesh as they keep the scoreboard ticking, while punishing the bad deliveries.
First six for Venkatesh!
A first six of his international career as well. He gets underneath the ball from Ish Sodhi and smacks it towards deep mid-wicket. That's more like the Venkatesh Iyer we have seen!
India 127/4 in 14 overs
Iyer and Iyer in the middle
The two batters who barely had an opportunity to bat across the two games now have around 8 overs to make a mark. Shreyas Iyer, alongside Venkatesh Iyer currently on the crease.
India 114/4 in 13 overs
Rohit departs!
Amazing reflexes from Ish Sodhi to dismiss Rohit Sharma. India lose their fourth wicket, Rohit departs on 56. Ish Sodhi bowls wide outside off and Rohit, who had already charged down the track, finds the bottom edge as he goes for a shot towards extra cover. The ball drifts back to Sodhi and the spinner extends his arm for a phenomenal catch.
India 108/4 in 12 overs
50 for Rohit!
26th T20I fifty for the Indian captain! Rohit Sharma brings his half-century in merely 27 deliveries. Long way to go for the skipper, however, as India need a partnership to regain momentum in this game.
India 103/3 in 11 overs
India 90/3 in 10 overs
India made a whirlwind start to the innings but Mitchell Santner's two overs have ensured New Zealand's comeback in this game. Onus on Rohit Sharma to keep the scoreboard ticking alongside Shreyas Iyer.
Wicket no.3 for Santner
Rishabh Pant departs on 4. A tossed-up delivery from Santner and the batter gets down on one knee to smack it over deep square. A horrible mistiming, however, sends the ball to long-off instead. Pant clearly not happy with his shot.
India 83/3 in 9 overs
Spin from both ends
Sodhi's first over goes for six as Rishabh Pant takes the crease alongside Rohit. It had been a strong start for India but Santner's two-wicket over means India now need a partnership from the two batters.
India 77/2 in 8 overs
SANTNER STRIKES AGAIN
Two in an over! Suryakumar Yadav departs on a duck. Tossed up from Santner and the batter couldn't resist going for an inside-out. He finds a fielder straight at cover as Guptill takes the catch.
India 71/2 in 7 overs
WICKET!
Santner strikes right after the Powerplay. Ishan Kishan falls on 29. A little short from Santner and Ishan looks to cut it late, but nicks the bottom-edge to keeper Tim Seifert.
India 69/0 in 6 overs
What an electrifying start for India. Both openers have come with a clear intent to put as much on the board as possible and doing a great job at that. India's best Powerplay in this series!
Rohit also slams his 150th six in T20Is during the final over of the Powerplay. 20 runs off Lockie Ferguson's over.
50-run partnership!
Rohit and Ishan add the first fifty of India in only 31 deliveries! Rohit brings India's 50 with a boundary towards cover.
India 53/0 in 5.1 overs
Ishan dealing in fours
Ishan Kishan is currently unbeaten on 24 with five fours! He slams Adam Milne for two successive boundaries in the fifth over.
India 49/0 in 5 overs
10 off the fourth over
Rohit Sharma, who usually takes his time to get going, has charged right from the start in this innings which is a good change, considering the dew. He hits his second six off the innings in Lockie Ferguson's first over.
India 39/0 in 4 overs
Big score in mind
With the dew factor set to play a key role towards the later stages of the game, the Indian openers are losing no opportunity to go for the big hits early on.
India 29/0 in 3 overs
Rohit goes big!
The trademark pull is here! This one was not really off the middle of the bat, but enough to clear the rope at deep backward. Short from Boult and Rohit instinctively goes for the pull. First six of the innings.
India 24/0 in 2.2 overs
Intent from Ishan
Ishan doing what he does best - going after the bowlers from ball one. A couple of lofted shots and a cheeky placement behind first slip to end the over, as the batter gets 10 from Milne's first over.
India 18/0 in 2 overs
Ishan gets off the mark with a four!
That's some way to start the innings. Milne offers room outside off and Kishan attempts to slam it towards cover. A thick outside edge and ball runs away to the third-man boundary.
India 12/0 in 1.1 overs
First boundary!
Lucky four for Rohit. Terrific bowling from Boult as he gets movement early on. A little outside off and Rohit looks to guide it through covers, but gets a thick outside-edge as the ball races past the first slip.
India 8/0 in 1 over
Let the action begin!
Sourav Ganguly rings the Eden Gardens bell as we are set for the play to begin. Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan open for India. Trent Boult finally gets a shot at first over.
50th T20I for Chahal
Indians who have played 50 or more T20Is:
Rohit Sharma - 119*
MS Dhoni - 98
Virat Kohli - 95
Suresh Raina - 78
Shikhar Dhawan - 68
Yuvraj Singh - 58
KL Rahul - 56
Bhuvneshwar Kumar - 55*
Ravindra Jadeja - 55
Hardik Pandya - 54
Ravichandran Ashwin - 51
Yuzvendra Chahal - 50
Captains speak
Rohit Sharma (India): We are going to bat first. Pitch looks a little sticky and we want to challenge ourselves as a batting unit. We gotta try various things and this is one of them. We want to put runs on the board and give the new set of bowlers a target to defend. KL and Ashwin are rested. Ishan and Chahal come in.
Mitchell Santner (New Zealand): Yeah (would have bowled). Last few games it has been wet because of the dew. There has been dew throughout. Whatever we do we have to do it well. We have been close, lost a couple of phases especially in the last game during the middle with the bat, we got off to a great start.. But that's just the way. The Indian openers have come out and build partnerships. We are not far away and hopefully we can put up a complete game today. That's (Southee) the only change.
New Zealand Playing XI
Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert(w), James Neesham, Mitchell Santner(c), Adam Milne, Lockie Ferguson, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult
India Playing XI
Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal