Abhishek Sharma sent the New Zealand bowlers on a leather hunt with a 35-ball 84 as India put up 238 for 7 in the first T20 International here on Wednesday.
The world's top-ranked T20I batter showed no mercy, hitting eight sixes and five fours, making the Black Cap fielders look like mere bystanders.
Abhishek’s aggressive innings allowed his skipper Suryakumar Yadav (32 off 22 balls) to get some runs, though he was far from his best. The young opener’s fearless approach set the stage for a 99-run partnership off 47 balls for the third wicket.
Rinku Singh (44 not out off 20 balls) also got a chance to play a meaningful innings, helping India finish their 20 overs strongly.
It took Abhishek five deliveries to settle against Jacob Duffy (2/27 in 4 overs) before he sent the first of his eight sixes into the sight screen.
In between, Sanju Samson (10) and Ishan Kishan (8) missed opportunities, but when Abhishek got his next chance, there was no looking back.
Abhishek’s bat-speed gave him an edge, and New Zealand’s attack lacked a bowler of express pace to challenge the Punjab southpaw. His straight bat allowed him to find more scoring zones in front of square.
Kristian Clarke and Kyle Jamieson bowled at early 130 clicks on a soft pitch, which helped balls sail over the ropes. His first three boundaries came off spinner Glenn Phillips after he had already cleared the fence four times.
Suryakumar looked scratchy at the other end, but a back-foot punch through covers off Duffy and a whiplashed six off Clarke provided glimpses of his class. Overall, he was not at his best.
Mitchell Santner (1/37 in 3 overs) tried to slow things down and partially succeeded when Suryakumar was caught at long-on. Abhishek continued his assault until the next over, when Ish Sodhi shortened a leg-break slightly and Jamieson took the catch.
Rinku Singh then faced enough deliveries to make an impact, hitting Daryl Mitchell’s first and last over for 21 runs and taking India to a total that looked improbable earlier.