Ishan Kishan smashed a maiden T20I hundred while Arshdeep Singh grabbed a five-wicket haul as India defeated New Zealand by 46 runs in the fifth and final Twenty20 International in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday.
India concluded their preparations to defend the T20 World Cup championship on a very positive note by winning the series 4-1.
India chose to bat first and scored an incredible 271/5. New Zealand were dismissed for 225 in 19.4 overs in response. The hosts’ most effective bowlers were Arshdeep Singh (5/51) and Axar Patel (3/33). With a stroke-filled 38-ball 80, Finn Allen topped scoring for the Kiwis.
Earlier, India scored an incredible 271/5, thanks to centurion Ishan Kishan’s incredible shot-making who gave the Thiruvananthapuram crowd more than a reason to cheer after yet another failure of local hero Sanju Samson.
During their 137-run third-wicket partnership in just over 10 overs, captain Suryakumar Yadav (63, 30b, 4×4, 6×6) and Kishan (103, 43 balls, 6×4, 10×6), who hit his first century in the format, treated the Kiwis bowlers with complete contempt.
Opener Samson (6), was unable to get going and fell to pacer Lockie Ferguson. His fifth consecutive failure in this series now casts a significant shadow over his prospects in the T20 World Cup. Abhishek Sharma (30 off 16 balls) got off to a good start, but Ferguson’s increased pace proved to be too much for him.
However, following a rather lackluster power play period (54/2), India quickly gained some new momentum through Suryakumar and Kishan.
With his quick hands and agile feet, Kishan, who missed the fourth Twenty20 International due to an undisclosed injury, showed no signs of rust. Ferguson was hit for a four and a six over extra over by the left-hander to begin his havoc, and the runs didn’t really stop after that.
Suryakumar, who also reached 3,000 runs in Twenty20 Internationals, reached the milestone in two fewer balls with a six off Jacob Duffy, while Kishan reached his 50 in 28 balls with a four off Ish Sodhi. Kishan, who amassed 1,000 T20I runs, was harsh on Sodhi, hitting the leg-spinner for 29 runs in the 12th over. His big-hits came in the order of 4, 4, 4, 6, 4, 6.
Suryakumar was dismissed in between, providing a charge to his opposite number and left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner before being stumped by Tim Seifert.
However, Kishan seemed unfazed by that. The Jharkhand man quickly achieved the coveted three-figure barrier in 42 balls; a six from Santner put him at 97, and the next one sent him over the milestone, which he enthusiastically celebrated before dissolving into a bear hug with Hardik Pandya. Kishan needed just 14 balls to reach his second fifty.
When Glenn Phillips caught him off Duffy at square leg and he returned to the hut to applause and whistles, the Kishan show came to an end. India crossed the 250-run threshold for the fourth time in their T20I history thanks to Pandya’s powerful late blows (42 off 17 balls).
