India clinched the 3-T20 match series 2-0 with an assertive win on Friday in the second match against New Zealand with seven wickets to spare at Ranchi. Rohit Sarma, Indian captain, won the toss and elected to field. New Zealand had scored 153 runs in twenty overs losing six wickets. Chasing the target of 154 runs, India made 155 runs for three wickets with the help of two half centuries from openers Rohit and Rahul. Rahul made 65 runs and Rohit hit up 55. Suryakumar Yadav failed to score this time as an exception. Rishabh Pant had made the winning runs as he did in the first match against New Zealand at Jaipur.
Earlier, New Zealand openers gave a good start. Opener Martin Guptill was dismissed for 31 runs by Deepak Chahar while the spin duo Aswin (1 for 19 and Axar Patel 9(1 for 26) had restricted the New Zealand batters. Debutant Harshal Patel got two wickets – Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Philips. Bhuvanesh Kumar and Deepak Chahar had conceded some runs before gaining control over the proceedings. Hyderabadi Mohammad Siraj should have played in this match. But he was injured in practice session and as luck would have it, Harshal Patel got the chance of wearing the cap for the first time.
Final scores: New Zealand 153/6 in 20 overs and India 155/3 in 17.2 overs.
