ABHISHEK Sharma scythed through a hapless New Zealand attack to cause a carnage that made even Vaibhav Sooryavanshi look like a bystander at times as India cantered to a series-clinching sixwicket win in the third T20 International here on Tuesday. The world’s top ranked T20 batter smashed an incredible 113 off 38 balls, including a 15- ball half-century, as India made a mockery of what seemed like a tricky 199-run target. The visitors reached the finishing mark in a ridiculous 13.2 overs. Abhishek’s century was completed in 35 balls and he struck his now famous meditation pose to celebrate even as the opposition team and the spectators were left dazed by his powerhitting. India thus completed a hattrick of T20I series wins on New Zealand soil, having won 5-0 and 1-0 in 2020 and 2022 respectively. The 15-year-old Sooryavanshi was no less ruthless, scoring 45 off 18 balls but was overshadowed by Abhishek as India created the world record for the fastest team 100 in five overs and the highest ever power-play score of 118. The opening stand of 133 in seven overs was a “Hitting Exhibition” which won’t be forgotten in a hurry, especially by those who were present at the Westpac Trust Stadium, Wellington’s designated T20 ground. By the time their stand ended, Sooryavanshi (four sixes) and Abhishek (eight sixes) had mauled the Black Caps attack with a dozen maximums between them. Abhishek hit 11 sixes and nine boundaries before being caught by Glenn Phillips. He left the New Zealand players in such a broken state that they didn’t even have any zeal to celebrate the wicket. The match as a contest was killed by Abhishek and Sooryavanshi in the first over itself which was bowled by Jacob Duffy and yielded 26 runs for India. Adam Milne was slightly less expensive, going for 17 in the second, but after Michael Bracewell and Kyle Jamieson gave away 21 and 20 in the third and fourth over, skipper Mitchell Santner had a resigned look on his face.

 

The pitch that was holding up during New Zealand’s innings, became flat and it seemed as if Abhishek and Sooryavanshi were batting on flat beds like the Feroze Shah Kotla in Delhi or the Uppal in Hyderabad. All they needed to do was either get the front-foot out of the line and make space to smash on the off-side or move it across the line and hit on the leg-side. Such was the ferocity of Abhishek’s shots that Sooryavanshi seemed to be in his shadows. But the teenager also displayed audacity with some breathtaking shots even though the night belonged to Abhishek. Earlier, Daryl Mitchell roared back to form with a scintillating 52-ball-89 but Indian bowlers did well at the death to restrict New Zealand to 198 for 3 in 20 overs. India captain Shreyas Iyer won his third toss and once again asked the Black Caps to bat first. Pacer Arshdeep Singh (1-33 in four overs) quickly removed Tim Seifert, who was guilty of playing an indiscreet shot, as India got off to a perfect start. However, Finn Allen (40 off 25 balls) and Mitchell added 86 for a counter-attacking secondwicket stand. Allen started with a couple of sixes off Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0- 40 in four overs), who continued to search for the perfect length that has eluded him in all the games so far. The only over in which he looked good was his last and 18th of the New Zealand innings. He was able to consistently pitch the block-hole deliveries in that over, something that would give him confidence for the remaining games of the five-match series. Allen first smashed Bhuvneshwar over long-on and then pulled him over deep midwicket even as Mitchell found his rhythm with the willow. While Allen wasn’t exactly scoring off each delivery, he did hit a third six, fetching one from outside the off-stump of a Prince Yadav delivery and carting it over square leg. Mitchell, at the other end, got some cheeky boundaries, including a ramp shot off Prince. It was Nitish Kumar Reddy (1- 38 in four overs), who finally got the breakthrough when Allen didn’t get the elevation while trying to deposit him wide off long-on. Naman Dhir sprinted 10 yards and took a smart low catch. The in-form Glenn Phillips (17) was removed by Axar (1-36 in four overs). He took a sharp return catch but the highly-rated Bevon Jacobs (39 no off 23 balls) joined Mitchell to add 75 runs for the fourth wicket in eight overs. Mitchell hit some lusty blows -- five maximums in all -- apart from five fours.