Watch: Washington Sundar becomes show stopper with gravity-defying catch in India vs New Zealand 1st T20I

New Zealand were going all guns blazing after India captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to bowl first in the first T20I in Ranchi on Friday. Finn Allen, who had a rather dismal ODI series, appeared to be back to his element. India's most trusted new-ball bowlers in T20Is - Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh - had no answers to Allen's onslaught. New Zealand raced to 23 in the first two overs with Allen scoring 16 off 10 balls.

Hardik threw the ball to all-rounder Washington Sundar, who not too long ago, had the best economy rate among all Indian bowlers in the powerplay. The off-spinner immediately applied the brakes on Allen, giving away only three runs in his first over.

The New Zealand opener, however, adjusted to the turn Sundar was getting and hit the off-spinner for a six off the first ball of his second over. He tried to repeat it in the next ball but Sundar dragged his length back slightly. The ball turned a bit and it caught the bottom half of Allen's bat. He was holed out in the deep mid-wicket region. It was a much-needed breakthrough for India as New Zealand had raced to 43 in 4.1 overs.

INDIA VS NEW ZEALAND LIVE SCORE 1st T20I

In walked left-hander Mark Chapman. Sundar, who is not known for extracting a lot of turn, had the young Kiwi in a fix by making the ball whiz past his outside edge twice.

Seeing the turn on offer, Sundar decided to give the ball more air and go full. It worked. Chapman pushed forward but didn't cover the turn and pushed it back towards the bowler.

Sundar, in his follow-through, took a couple of rapid steps and dived full length to grab the ball inches above the ground. It was sent upstairs but the third umpire took little time to rule it in favour of India.

Photos and videos of Sundar's outstanding catch immediately spread on social media like wildfire.

Watch Video: Washington Sundar's breathtaking catch in India vs New Zealand 1st T20I

India are coming on the back of a 3-0 whitewash against New Zealand in the ODIs. There are a lot of changes from that squad though as the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Axar Patel have been given a break.