Sanju Samson starred with the bat as he scored another 89 runs while Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan smashed sparkling half-centuries. Shivam Dube came out and finished things off as India made 255/5 in 20 overs. New Zealand had a hard day in the field with Jimmy Neesham picking up 3 wickets and Santner bowling decently. New Zealand have a mountain to climb.
Abhishek Sharma’s blazing half-century gives India a blazing start in powerplay.Â
Put into bat first, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma came out to bat for India while Matt Henry came to bowl for New Zealand. Samson broke the shackles as he pulled it over mid-on for the maximum. Glenn Phillips came into the attack next and bowled a quiet over. Jacob Duffy came into the attack next. Sharma took his front leg out of the way and cleared mid-on for a boundary. Abhishek then planted his front leg and went down the ground for a boundary. Samson played a lofted drive back over Duffy for a boundary.
Lockie Ferguson came into the attack next and was greeted by Abhishek for a boundary as he shimmied down the wicket and the edge flew away to the third man fence for a boundary. Abhishek then blasted it inside out over extra cover for the maximum. Samson then hit Ferguson as he looked to whip it away and got a leading edge over short third man for the maximum. Samson got a ball on the pads, which he tickled it away to the fine leg fence for a boundary.
Matt Henry returned to the attack and bowled wides. Abhishek got underneath it and pumped it over mid-off for the maximum. Samson then stood tall and pummelled the ball past deep square leg for the maximum. Jacob Duffy came to bowl the final over of powerplay as Abhishek looked to play the square drive and got it to the third man fence for a boundary. Abhishek went big as he took it on the full and sailed it over long-on for the maximum. Abhishek again hit a boundary over Chapman for a boundary.
Abhishek then stood tall and flat batted it over top of wide mid-on for the boundary as Abhishek reached his fifty in just 18 balls. India blazed away to 92/0 in 6 overs with Abhishek unbeaten on 51 off 19 balls and Samson unbeaten on 33 off 17 balls. Drinks came on the field.
Abhishek Sharma falls but Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma decimates New Zealand in the middle phase.Â
Captain Mitchell Santner came back into the attack post the powerplay. Samson cut the ball away past diving backward point for a boundary. Rachin Ravindra came into the attack next and got rid of Abhishek through a wider ball outside off-stump which he edged it to the keeper. Abhishek went for 52 off 21 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes to his name. Ishan Kishan came out to bat next. He got off the mark with a brace as the 100 came up for India in 7.2 overs.
Ishan then tucked the ball away to the deep midwicket region for a boundary. Ishan then guided the ball past backward point and away to the fence for a boundary. Santner continued and bowled a decent over. Jimmy Neesham came into the attack next. Samson showed deft touch and opened the bat face to steer it to the third man fence for a boundary. Ishan then cut it away past Ravindra at backward point as the ball raced away to the fence for a boundary. India were 127/1 in 10 overs at the halfway stage of the game.
Santner continued as Ishan got down on one knee and nailed the slog sweep over deep square leg for the maximum. Samson reached his fifty in 33 balls. Lockie Ferguson came into the attack as Samson waited for the ball and pummelled a pull over backward square leg for the maximum. Sanju then launched the ball down the ground over the bowler’s head for the maximum. The 50-run stand came up between the two players. The 150 came up for India in 11.3 overs.
Ishan then cleared his front leg and whacked it over long-on for the maximum. Samson then went back and flat batted it over mid-off for a boundary. Matt Henry returned as Ishan took it on and pulled it over cow corner for the maximum. Ravindra returned for another spell. Samson then cleared his front leg and launched it over long-on for the maximum. Sanju went big again as he rocked back deep in the crease and pulled it over midwicket for the maximum. Samson went big again as he launched it again for the maximum. India were 191/1 in 14 overs with Drinks on the field.
Mitchell Santner came back into the attack post the Drinks Break. Ishan then cleared his front leg and launched it away over midwicket for the maximum. Ishan reached his fifty in 23 balls. Ishan cleared his front leg and smashed it over Santner’s head for a boundary as the 200 came up for India in 15 overs. India were 203/1 in 15 overs with Kishan unbeaten on 54 off 24 balls while Samson was unbeaten on 89 off 45 balls.
Jimmy Neesham triple strike pegs India a bit, but Shivam Dube’s finish powers India to 255/5 in 20 overs.Â
Jimmy Neesham came back into the attack and broke the partnership as he picked up Samson for a well made 89 off 46 balls with 5 fours and 8 sixes to his name as he was holed out at long-on. Hardik Pandya came out to bat next. He got off the mark. Neesham got another as he dismissed Ishan for 54 off 25 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes to his name as Chapman took the catch. Suryakumar Yadav came and went for a golden duck as Neesham picked up another as Ravindra took the brilliant catch in the end.
Tilak Varma came out to bat next. Duffy continued and bowled a decent over. Neesham continued as Hardik picked the length quickly and pulled it to the left of deep midwicket for a boundary. Matt Henry came back to bowl the 19th over as Hardik whacked it away over deep midwicket for the flat maximum. Matt came back and got rid of Pandya for 18 off 13 balls with one four and one six to his name. Shivam Dube came out to bat next. Dube got off the mark straightaway.
Neesham came to bowl the last over of the innings as Dube went big over mid-off and away for a boundary. Dube went big again as he pulled it over deep midwicket for the maximum. Dube again went big as he went inside out over extra cover for the maximum. Dube then swivelled and pulled it away to deep backward square leg for a boundary. Dube again went inside out wide of mid-off and away for a boundary to end the innings,
India finished with 255/5 in 20 overs with Dube unbeaten on 26 off 8 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes to his name while Tilak was unbeaten on 8 off 6 balls.
New Zealand had a tough outing with the ball. Jimmy Neesham was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/46 in 4 overs. Rachin Ravindra finished with 1/32 in 2 overs. Matt Henry finished with 1/49 in 4 overs. Glenn Phillips bowled an over for 5 runs. Jacob Duffy finished with 0/42 in 3 overs. Lockie Ferguson finished with 0/48 in 2 overs. Mitchell Santner bowled 4 overs for 33 runs. New Zealand now needs 256 runs to win the final.
Who’s Winning, India or New Zealand?Â
India have got massive runs on the board. Another 250+ score on the board. It will require a monumental effort from New Zealand to chase this down. The pitch is flat and that gives the Kiwis some hope. But India on top at this stage and will fancy winning this match.
Also Read:Â ICC T20 WC 2026: India Gets Off To A Flying Start After Being Asked To Bat First.