India's took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the T20I series against New Zealand, winning the second T20I, at Ranchi. by 7 wickets. It was an impressive start for new captain Rohit Sharma and new coach Rahul Dravid, especially without some marquee players. R. Ashwin and debutant Harshal Patel bowled well before a 117-run opening partnership between Rohit and K.L. Rahul took India to a comfortable victory.
Rohit won his second consecutive toss and decided to bowl again. India replaced Mohammed Siraj with Harshal, while New Zealand brought in Jimmy Neesham, Adam Milne, and Ish Sodhi.
New Zealand openers Martin Guptill and Daryl Mitchell started in aggressive fashion. Guptill hit the first two balls for fours and mistimed while going for a third, but Rahul dropped a very difficult chance. He finished the over with another four.
New Zealand raced to 42 in four overs. Guptill was the more aggressive one of the two until he mistimed a short ball from Deepak Chahar in the fifth over. Mark Chapman started confidently and scored 21 before falling to Axar Patel. Axar could also have got Glenn Phillips, but Venkatesh Iyer missed a straightforward chance.
Harshal got his maiden T20I wicket with a slower ball that Mitchell hit straight to long on for 31. He bowled tightly, using his variations. His second wicket was of the dangerous Phillips, who utilised the reprieve to score a strokeful 21-ball 34 with three sixes.
However, the other New Zealand middle-order batters failed to accelerate against Ashwin and Axar. The spinners took 2-45 from their eight overs. Ashwin continued to deliver the goods, creating trouble for the New Zealand batters. Harshal finished with 2-25 in his four overs with 13 dot balls, a Player of the Match performance on debut.
Rohit and Rahul started the chase confidently. India, too, started with a four, and scored 45 in the Powerplay. There was a phase just after Powerplay where India scored just 18 in three overs, but two sixes from Rohit in the 10th over, off Mitchell Santner, ensured India stayed at par with the required rate.
India played freely for the next three overs, and Rahul reached his 16th T20I fifty, but hit an off-cutter from Tim Southee directly to deep square leg fielder. Southee later picked Rohit after the latter, too, completed his fifty. Southee also dismissed Suryakumar Yadav to finish with 3-16 in his four overs.
Indian promoted Venkatesh Iyer at three in this match. He remained unbeaten on 12, as did Rishabh Pant, who finished the match in the 18th over with consecutive sixes.
Brief scores: New Zealand 153/6 in 20 overs (Glenn Phillips 34; Harshal Patel 2-25) lost to India 155/3 in 17.2 overs (K.L. Rahul 65; Tim Southee 3-16) with 16 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Harshal Patel.