India win by 168 runs, clinch T20I series 2-1

AHMEDABAD: Shubman Gill's unbeaten 126 followed by an all-round performance from captain Hardik Pandya helped India bundle out New Zealand for 66 to register a mammoth 168-run victory over Blackcaps in the third and final T20I of the three-match series here at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

India thumped New Zealand by 168 runs - the biggest win by a Full Member against another in the men's T20I. With this win, Team India clinched the three-match T20I series 2-1. Daryl Mitchell was the top scorer for New Zealand with 35 in 25 deliveries. While India captain Pandya starred with both bat and ball as he scored a crucial 30 off 17 and scalped 4 wickets conceding just 16 runs in his spell of 4 overs.

Chasing a competitive target of 235, New Zealand got off to a bad start as they lost both openers in under two overs of the game. India skipper Hardik Pandya scalped the wicket of Finn Allen for three. Arshdeep Singh then struck twice to remove Devon Conway on the first ball of the second over and Mark Chapman for a duck. New Zealand were three wickets down at the score of just 5 runs and they failed to recover from that point.

Earlier, Shubman Gill's ton and Hardik Pandya's quick-fire 30 powered India to 234/4 against New Zealand, Gill was the highest run scorer for India with 125 off 63 delivered while Rahul Tripathi slammed 44 and Pandya played quick knocks of 30. For New Zealand, Michael Bracewell, Blair Tickner and Ish Sodhi bagged one wicket each respectively.

Opting to bat first, India got off to a bad start as they lost their star opener Ishan Kishan in the second over of the game. But Shubman Gill finished the second over with a boundary. Gill then hammered Lockie Ferguson for 11 runs, while slamming two fours. Rahul Tripathi and Gill thereafter took team's total beyond the 80-run mark which made the foundation for big innings. Brief score: India 234/4 (Shubman Gill 126*, Rahul Tripathi 44; Daryl Mitchell 1-6) vs New Zealand 66 (Daryl Mitchell 35, Mitchell Santner 13; Hardik Pandya 4-16).

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