Ishan Kishan stole the show alongside captain Suryakumar Yadav as India came out all guns blazing in this huge chase. Ishan Kishan was the show stopper while Suryakumar Yadav took his time initially before accelerating towards the end. New Zealand batted first and went hard from the word go as a couple of enterprising 40s allowed the Kiwis to get to a challenging 208/6 in 20 overs.
Chasing 209 for the win, India were in early trouble with Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma getting dismissed early to leave India at 6/2 before Ishan Kishan stole the show with the bat in hand with his 76 off 32 balls while Suryakumar Yadav made an unbeaten 82 off 37 balls while Shivam Dube made an unbeaten 32 off 16 balls as India got over the line in the 16th over to win by 7 and go 2-0 up in the series.
Enterprising 40s from Rachin Ravindra & Mitchell Santner powers New Zealand past the 200-run mark
Put into bat first, Devon Conway and Tim Seifert came out to open for New Zealand while Arshdeep Singh had the ball in hand for India. The openers came out all guns blazing on a flat deck. Conway tore apart Arshdeep by hitting him for 18 in the opening over. Then Seifert got into the act as he too in Arshdeep’s next over tore him apart as 43 runs came in the first 3 overs.
Harshit Rana came into the attack next and he got the first wicket to fall as he dismissed Conway for 19 off 9 balls with 3 fours and one six to his name. Rachin Ravindra came out to bat next. Seifert too fell in the next over as he fell for 24 off 13 balls with 5 fours to his name to Varun Chakaravarthy. Glenn Phillips came out to bat next. The duo got together and carried on their merry ways as well. The powerplay score was 64/2 in 6 overs for the Kiwis.
Ravindra continued his merry ways and was the aggressor as India struggled to bowl tight lines and lengths. The duo put on 55 for the 3rd wicket before Phillips fell after getting a start as he fell for 19 off 13 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name to Kuldeep Yadav. Daryl Mitchell came out to bat next. He too started on the front foot. Abhishek Sharma came onto the attack and was hit for consecutive boundaries. Ravindra and Mitchell put on 27 for the 4th wicket before Mitchell fell for 18 off 11 balls with 3 fours to his name to Shivam Dube.
Mark Chapman came out to bat next. Just 4 runs were added to the score from here before Ravindra fell for 44 off 26 balls with 2 fours and 4 sixes to his name to Kuldeep Yadav. Captain Mitchell Santner came out to bat next and got off the mark soon. Chapman was struggling but Santner was terrific from the word go. The duo of Santner and Chapman added 31 runs for the 6th wicket before Chapman fell for 10 off 13 balls to Hardik Pandya.
Zakary Foulkes came out to bat next with 17 balls to spare. Santner turned the heat on the Indian bowlers. He finished things off in style and Foulkes gave him good support from the other end from time to time. It was a captain’s innings from Santner as he made an unbeaten 47 off 27 balls with 6 fours and one six to his name while Foulkes hit a six and a boundary to end the innings off Arshdeep. Foulkes remained unbeaten on 15 off 8 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name.
New Zealand finished with 208/6 in 20 overs with 12 extras given by the fielding side.
It was a mixed day for the Indian bowlers. Kuldeep Yadav bowled well for his 2/35 in 4 overs. Varun Chakaravarthy finished with 1/35 in 4 overs. Hardik Pandya finished with 1/25 in 3 overs. Harshit Rana finished with 1/35 in 3 overs. Shivam Dube finished with 1/7 in 1 over. Abhishek Sharma bowled an over for 12 runs. Arshdeep Singh had an off day with figures of 0/53 in 4 overs. This meant India needed a mammoth 209 runs to win off 20 overs.
Ishan Kishan & Suryakumar Yadav powers India to a huge win with 28 balls to spare
Chasing 209 for the win, keeper batter Sanju Samson opened the batting with Abhishek Sharma while Matt Henry had ball in hand for New Zealand. Samson got a lucky maximum before Henry dismissed him for 6 off 5 balls with one maximum to his name as India were off to a shaky start. Ishan Kishan came out to bat next. Then, Jacob Duffy delivered a hammer blow as he got Abhishek Sharma out for a golden duck as India were reduced to 6/2 in 1.1 overs.
Captain Suryakumar Yadav came out to bat next. But the turning point came when Zakary Foulkes was brought into the attack and he bowled wides and no balls and India pounced on him big time as Ishan took the attack to the opposition. 24 runs came off the Foulkes over and that really set up India and India never looked back after this.
It was the Ishan Kishan show as he blazed under the Raipur lights and dominated the New Zealand bowling. It was not just dominance, it was decimation of the highest order. Whichever bowler came to bowl got clobbered. The powerplay score was 75/2 in 6 overs Surya was a mere spectator through the course of the partnership. Ishan was blazing away and completed his fifty off 21 balls and carried on from there. Foulkes came back into the attack and then Surya took the matter into his own hands as he got strike and tore him apart as 25 came off the Foulkes over now.
The duo put on more than a century stand for the 3rd wicket and they scored at double quick time. The partnership was worth a magnificent 122 off 49 balls that turned the game on its head with Ishan scoring 76 and Surya 39 in that partnership. Ishan’s innings was cut short on 76 runs off 32 balls with 11 fours and 4 sixes to his name as Ish Sodhi got a consolation wicket. The score was 128/3 in 9.1 overs and the game was as good as over at this stage.
Shivam Dube came out to bat next. Dube got himself in and then accelerated later on while Surya was in his zone and played the perfect role of what we know of. It was Surya who dazzled after getting set and got to his first fifty after 23 innings. Surya was unstoppable and whichever bowler came his way was dispatched. The required rate was under control and New Zealand looked downcast and didn’t know what hit them.
They were at times sloppy on the field and dropped catches happened which helped India no doubt but India were just too good in the end. Santner dropped Surya off Foulkes to sum up the day for the Kiwis. The duo put on an unbeaten 81 runs off 37 balls with Surya scoring 43 off 19 in the partnership while Dube made 36 off 18 balls in the partnership. Dube hit the winning runs as India got to the target in just 15.2 overs with Surya unbeaten on 82 off 37 balls with 9 fours and 4 sixes to his name while Dube was unbeaten on 36 off 18 balls with one four and three sixes to his name. 9 extras given by the fielding side.
New Zealand had a forgetful day with the ball apart from the first two overs as that one over of 24 runs changed everything. Matt Henry finished with 1/41 in 3 overs. Jacob Duffy went with 1/38 in 4 overs. Ish Sodhi finished with 1/34 in 3 overs. Mitchell Santner went for 27 runs in 2 overs. Zak Foulkes went for 67 runs in 3 overs. Daryl Mitchell bowled 2 balls for 2 runs. So, India win by 7 wickets with 28 balls to spare to go 2-0 up in 5-match series. Ishan Kishan was awarded the Player of the Match award.
What Lies Ahead
India are 2-0 up in the 5-match series after this impressive win. They will look to seal the series on Sunday when the bandwagon moves to Guwahati on 25th January, 2026 from 7 PM IST onwards. Can New Zealand recover from this setback and keep the series alive or will India seal the deal in Guwahati?
We shall find the answer out on Sunday night in Guwahati.
Also Read:Â IND VS NZ: New Zealand Posts A Humungous Score Above 200 On The Board.