India beat New Zealand via Super Over to take an unbeatable 3-0 lead in 5-match T20I series

India beat New Zealand via Super Over to take an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the 5-match T20I series in Hamilton on Wednesday. After scores were tied with both teams at 179, Rohit Sharma smashed two sixes off the final two deliveries of the Super Over to chase down the target of 18.

This is now India's first T20I series win in New Zealand.

Chasing 180, New Zealand needed 20 off the final 2 overs and 9 off the last over but Mohammed Shami's heroics meant the match went to a Super Over. Shami removed Kane Williamson for 95 and with 1 needed off the last ball of the match, cleaned up Ross Taylor.

Williamson and Martin Guptill came out to face Jasprit Bumrah in the Super Over. In superb form, Williamson followed up his 95 with a six and a four as New Zealand finished with 17 off their Super Over.

The pitch in Hamilton was slowish and India would probably rue the way their innings unfolded after a strong start by Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul but nothing could take away a class act by Williamson who led from the front even as some of his power-hitters disappointed.

New Zealand needed a strong start with the bat and that came from Martin Guptill who was not even scared to try out a cheeky shot against Jasprit Bumrah. However, his luck ran out when he fell to an ordinary delivery from Shardul Thakur.

Ravindra Jadeja, who was brilliant with the ball in Auckland on Sunday, struck in his first over for the third time in the series - this time he removed the dangerous Colin Munro, Guptill's opening partner. Bogged down by dot balls, Munro played a poor shot and paid the price.

The onus thereafter was on New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson and Mitchell Santner who was promoted to No.4. In fact, Santner had a lucky escape when Ravindra Jadeja dropped a tough chance in Jasprit Bumrah's second over.

But Santner did not last long enough to make an impact. He



was done in by Yuzvendra Chahal who deceived him with a slow leg-break. Colin de Grandhomme, who was sent in ahead of Ross Taylor, did not look in great touch and eventually fell to Shardul Thakur for a 12-ball 5.

In between those two deliveries, however, Kane Williamson played some mindnumbing shots to take New Zealand close to the 180-run target. Williamson really broke the shackles with two sixes off Ravindra Jadeja's final over. For 3 overs before that, Jadeja had conceded only 9 but there was no room for New Zealand to play safe against any Indian bowler.

During sensational innings, Kane Williamson also set a new world record. No other captain has as many as his 8 fifty-plus scores in T20 Internationals.

After being put in to bat, India got off to an explosive start thanks to Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. Rohit was dismissed for 7 and 8 in the first two T20Is of the series in Auckland but in Hamilton, he led a strong start for India.

Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul were aggressive from the word go and as Rohit continued to dominate the New Zealand bowlers, Rahul settled down for a relatively quieter role - however. Once Rahul fell for 27, India sent in Shivam Dube at No.3 instead of Virat Kohli.

Dube, who had smashed 54 against West Indies in a T20I last month, struggled on a slowish pitch. At the other end, Rohit Sharma tried to make up for a slight dip in the run rate and perished for 65.

Thanks to Virat Kohli's 38 and Manish Pandey's cameo, India got to a strong enough total on a pitch that had more for the bowlers than the first surface in Auckland.

Kohli hit two fours and a six in his innings and in the course of his knock broke MS Dhoni's record for most runs by an Indian captain in T20 Internationals.

India and New Zealand will next travel to Wellington for the fourth and penultimate match of the series which will be played on Friday.