The only worry for them would be Axar Patel’s injury. He walked off the field after hurting his index finger on the bowling hand while attempting to stop a shot from Phillips off his own bowling, and didn’t return.

There was no shortage of action in the first six overs, with each side landing regular punches. Abhishek opened his account with a straight six off Jacob Duffy in the first over. Sanju Samson did so with a pulled four off Kyle Jamieson in the next. Three balls later, he pulled Jamieson for another four but the bowler had his revenge on the next delivery when Samson flicked one tamely to short midwicket.

Ishan Kishan, playing his first T20I in over two years, marked his return with a first-ball four over the bowler’s head. But he lasted just five deliveries; Duffy had him caught at extra cover with a slower ball. That reduced India to 27 for 2 in the third over. But Abhishek and Suryakumar Yadav kept attacking. Abhishek dealt in sixes, hitting four of those in the powerplay, while Suryakumar collected two overs and a six to take India to 68 for 2 after six overs.

New Zealand introduced spin after the powerplay, which further played into Abhishek’s hands. After cutting Ish Sodhi for a four, he collected three more off Phillips’ successive balls. He reached his half-century off just 22 balls, the fastest for an India batter against New Zealand in T20Is,  bettering KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma’s record by one ball.

Suryakumar too contributed with back-to-back fours off Sodhi, the first his trademark ‘Supla’ shot over short fine leg and the second, and perhaps even better, a straight-bat drive through midwicket against a short ball. But just as it was looking like he was getting back to his best, Santner had him caught at long-on for 32 off 22.

Abhishek, though, showed no mercy. He launched Santner over deep square leg for his sixth six before hitting two more against Sodhi. He was looking for a third six of the over when he holed out to wide long-on.

Hardik Pandya hung around for a bit, scoring 25 off 16 to take India into the death overs. But the New Zealand seamers used the slower ball to get rid of him, and Shivam Dube and Axar on either side of him. With 13 balls left, Rinku had Arshdeep Singh for company, but he did not let India slow down. He got to face only one ball in the 19th over but kept the strike in the 20th, hitting Daryl Mitchell for two fours and two sixes in a 21-run over.

New Zealand did not have a great start, something you don’t want when chasing 239. Arshdeep removed Devon Conway in the first over, with Samson taking a one-handed stunner to his left. Arshdeep has now dismissed Conway in all four T20Is they have been face to face.

From the other end, Pandya had Rachin Ravindra caught at first slip for 1. Tim Robinson and Phillips took the side to 50 at the end of the powerplay but Varun Chakravarthy pegged them back with Robinson’s wicket in the seventh.

By the end of the seventh over, the required rate had crossed 14. But Phillips did not give up. He hit two sixes each off Varun and Axar and brought up his fifty in 29 balls. He was equally severe on Dube, launching him over deep midwicket, into the manual scoreboard for a 105-metre six. But when he attempted another big hit against Axar, he miscued and found long-on. New Zealand needed 108 from 6.3 overs at that time. Mark Chapman’s 39 off 24 and Mitchell’s 28 from 18 only reduced the margin of the defeat, which was still pretty heavy.

Brief scores:
India 238 for 7 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 10, Abhishek Sharma 84, Suryakumar Yadsv 32, Hardik Pandya 25, Rinku Singh 44*; Jacob Duffy 2-27, Kyle Jamieson 2-54, Kristian Clarke 1-40, Ish Sodhi 1-38, Mitchell Santner 1-37) beat New Zealand 189 for 7 in 20 overs  (Tim Robinson 21, Glenn Phillips 78, Mark Chapman 39, Daryl Mitchell 28, Mitchell Sntner 20*; Arshdeep Singh 1-39, Hardik Pandya 1-20, Axar Patel 1-42, Shivam Dube 2-28, Varun Chakrawarthy  2-37) by 48 runs

[Cricinfo]