NZ vs Ind 1st T20: Seifert, Southee star as dominant hosts outclass India

Wellington: A well-played knock of 84 by Tim Seifert and a worthy contribution by the Kiwi bowlers helped the hosts seal a dominant 80-run win against India in the first T20 here on Wednesday.

Chasing a target of 220, the hosts gave no room for improvement to the visitors as almost half the Indian side were dismissed for single figures.

While Dhoni played a knock of 39 from 31 balls, Shikhar Dhawan and Vijay Shankar were dismissed for 29 and 27 runs respectively.

Krunal Pandya too played a cameo following his 18-ball 20.

Tim Southee was the pick of the Kiwi bowlers, having finished with a spell of 3-17 from four overs.

India 132-8 after 17.5 overs

WICKET! Lockie Ferguson bowls this one outside off as Bhuvneshwar gifts this to wicketkeeper Seifert

India 129-7 after 17 overs

WICKET! Krunal Pandya tries for the pull shot but is edged and caught by the wicketkeeper Seifert as Southee gets his wicket

India 77-6 after 11 overs

WICKET! A fuller-length delivery which ends up outside off-stump as Ish Sodhi strikes again to dismiss Hardik Pandya. Caught by Daryl Mitchell at deep extra-cover

India 72-5 after 10.2 overs

WICKET! Southee completes a catch at deep mid-wicket as Ish Sodhi bowls a little bit outside off to dismiss Karthik.

India 65-4 after 8.4 overs

WICKET! Grandhomme completes the catch at long off as Santner's tossed-up delivery sends Vijay Shankar packing

India 64-3 after 8.2 overs

BOWLED 'EM! A yorker-length delivery by Mitchell Santner as Rishabh Pant falls for 4 runs.

India 51-2 after 5.3 overs

BOWLED! Shikhar Dhawan has no answer to this peach of a yorker by Lockie Ferguson and India have now lost both their openers.

India 18-1 after 2.2 overs

CAUGHT! Tim Southee draws first blood for New Zealand. Rohit Sharma pulls a short ball but doesn't get the connection. Finds Ferguson at deep square leg. Vijay Shankar comes in at number one

New Zealand innings

Tim Seifert impressed for New Zealand during the first T20 against India on Wednesday as the hosts finished with a total of 219-6.

Put in to bat first, the hosts got off to a strong start with Colin Munro and Seifert putting up an 85-run stand for the first wicket. However, fortunes favoured India ever since Seifert’s dismissal in the 13^th over.

The big moment for the visitors came when Daryl Mitchell and Kane Williamson were dismissed off two consecutive balls – one in the last ball of the 14^th over and the second in the first ball of the 15^th over.

However, in the en, it was Mithell Santner and Scott Kuggeleijn who guided the Blackcaps to beyond a total of 200 runs.

New Zealand 164-4 after 15.1 overs

WICKET! Hardik Pandya makes no mistake at deep mid-wicket to dismiss Kane Williamson off Chahal's delivery.

New Zealand 164-3 after 15 overs

WICKET! Hardik Pandya strikes to remove Daryl Mitchell as Dinesh Karthik manages a superb catch.

New Zealand 134-2 after 12.4 overs

BOWLED 'EM! Khaleel Ahmed strikes as Tim Seifert departs after a well-played knock of 84.

New Zealand 86-1 after 8.2 overs

CAUGHT! Krunal Pandya draws first blood. This is a huge wicket for India as Pandya removes the dangerous Colin Munro for 34.

New Zealand 54-0 after 5 overs

The Kiwis are in cruise control mode as Colin Munro and Tim Seifert have done well to get themselves settled after a slow start.

Toss update

Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided that the visitors would bowl.

Both Rishabh Pant and MS Dhoni return to the playing XI, whereas Doug Bracewell and James Neesham miss out for the hosts.

Preview

With the ODI series under the belt, Rohit Sharma-led India will shift the focus to the shorter format of the game when they meet Kane Williamson’s New Zealand in the first of the three T20Is here on Wednesday.

While permanent skipper Virat Kohli has been rested for the forthcoming series, MS Dhoni returns to the squad with an eye to play his first T20I since July 2018, when India played England.

Young batting sensation Rishabh Pant also returns to the Men in Blue set-up after having been rested for the New Zealand ODIs.

Meanwhile, New Zealand will be desperate to turn things around after a 1-4 drubbing. They do hold an upper hand over India in the shortest format. They beat India 2-0 in the 2008-09 in the sole bilateral series played on New Zealand soil till date.

The Black Caps edged the sub-continental side 1-0 in a two-match away series in 2012 before losing 1-2 in India in 2017-18.

The ball swung initially at the Westpac Stadium on Sunday and New Zealand pacers will be itching to exploit that but they won't have the services of premier fast bowler Trent Boult, who has been rested.

It will be interesting to see what rookie all-rounder Daryl Mitchell and pacer Blair Tickner do in their debut series.

Squads:

Kane Williamson(c), Doug Bracewell, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Scott Kuggeleijn, Colin Munro, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Blair Tickner, James Neesham.

Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, Shubman Gill, Vijay Shankar, Hardik Pandya, Mohammad Siraj.