IND Vs NZ 1st T20I: Mitchell Santner Reaches Iconic Milestone Against Team India

New Zealand defeated India by 21 runs in the first T20I to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series here on Friday. Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell conjured up fluent and fiery half-centuries before the spinners choked the hosts.

Ranchi: New Zealand defeated India by 21 runs in the first T20I to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series here on Friday. Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell conjured up fluent and fiery half-centuries before the spinners choked the hosts.

Mitchell smashed a 30-ball unbeaten 59, including a last-over thrashing of Arshdeep Singh for 27 runs, to propel the Black Caps to a challenging 176 for six. Mitchell was asked to take the first strike, and opener Conway continued his streak of success with a 35-ball 52.

The Kiwi bowlers, led by Mitchell Santner (2/11) and Michael Bracewell (2/31), spun a web around the Indian batsmen and restricted India to 155 for 9 in 20 overs.

Santner striked on his very first ball and dismissed Shubman Gill, who went backfoot to pull off a slower delivery but the ball stopped and turned at him, resulting in the bottom edge going to the square leg. He also managed to slip in a maiden over in the last over of powerplay against Suryakumar.

The NZ skipper finished his spell with astonishing figures as he grabbed two huge wickets in his four overs spell and only gave away 11 runs in them. His spell played a major role in restricting the Men in Blue side to 155 runs.

The New Zealand stand-in skipper reached an iconic new milestone. He now has 11 T20I wickets against Team India in India, which is the highest by any bowler. Sri Lanka’s Dushmantha Chameera and NZ’s Ish Sodhi come in second on the list with 10 wickets.