T20:India beat New Zealand by 5 wickets

India on Wednesday beat New Zealand by 5 wickets in the first T20 in Jaipur, Chasing 165 for victory, India reached the target in 19.4 overs thanks to outstanding knocks from Rohit (48) and Suryakumar Yadav (62) on a good batting wicket at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.Rohit and KL Rahul got India off to a good start, scoring 50 runs in just 5 overs to lay a solid platform for their chase before Suryakumar joined forces with his skipper to add another 59 runs for the second wicket. India reached the target with two balls to spare, taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

The Indian bowlers, too, played their parts. They seemed set to concede a total in excess of 180 when Martin Guptill and Mark Chapman were stitching together a 109-run partnership (77 balls) for the second wicket earlier in the evening. But they limited the damage towards the end. Bhuvneshwar Kumar handed India the perfect start. He sent back the in-form Daryl Mitchell off the third ball of the innings with a trademark set-up.  Ashwin was the pick of the bowlers for India, taking two for 23 in four overs while senior pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/24 in four overs) too got his swing back. The last three overs fetched just 20 runs as NZ missed the services of big-hitters like James Neesham.