Abhishek Sharma 113 off 38: India Seal Series vs New Zealand
Abhishek Sharma 113 off 38: India Seal Series vs New Zealand
New Zealand made 198 and still lost with 40 balls to spare. That one line tells you most of what you need to know about Abhishek Sharma's night in Wellington.
The left-hander smashed 113 off 38 balls, with nine fours and 11 sixes, as India chased down 199 in 13.2 overs to win the third T20I by six wickets on Tuesday. The win gives India an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series with two games still to play. Abhishek was named Player of the Match, and few will argue with that.
How the chase unfolded
New Zealand had done their job. Shreyas Iyer won the toss for the third game running and chose to bowl, and the hosts leaned on Daryl Mitchell, who finished unbeaten on a career-best 89 off 52 balls. Finn Allen chipped in with a brisk 40 off 25. On most nights, 198/3 is a total you defend.
Abhishek made sure this was not most nights. He reached his fifty in just 15 balls, and India were past 70 without loss inside three overs. At the other end, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi kept pace for a while, hitting 45 off 19 with four sixes of his own. By the end of the powerplay, India were 118 for none.
The openers added 133 in 7.1 overs before Sooryavanshi fell five short of a fifty. It barely slowed India down. Abhishek brought up his hundred off 35 balls, and India were 193/3 after 12.4 overs. The game was over four balls later.
Kyle Jamieson was the only New Zealand bowler to take more than one wicket, finishing with 2/45. Once the openers got going, nobody in the attack had an answer.
The numbers behind the knock
A bit of quick maths shows how one-sided it became. Of Abhishek's 113 runs, 102 came in boundaries. His strike rate was 297.37, so he scored close to three runs for every ball he faced.
The chase also rewrote a few pages of the record book:
- Highest powerplay score in men's T20Is: India's 118/0 beat Romania's 116/0 against Serbia in 2021.
- Fastest team hundred in T20Is: India got there in five overs, beating Romania's 5.2.
- Fastest team fifty by a Full Member nation: 2.2 overs.
- Fourth T20I hundred for Abhishek: That puts him level with Suryakumar Yadav on India's list, behind only Rohit Sharma's five.
- Biggest margin in a 190-plus chase by a Full Member: 40 balls to spare.
What it means for the series
The first two games of this series were nervy. India chased 226 in the opener with two balls left, then got home against 180 with a single ball to spare. Both were four-wicket wins that could easily have gone the other way.
Wellington was different. This time the chase was finished with more than six overs unused, and New Zealand were left wondering what else they could have done.
The result also hands India a hat-trick of T20I series wins in New Zealand, after the 5-0 sweep in 2020 and the 1-0 win in 2022. For Abhishek, already the top-ranked T20I batter in the world, it is another reminder of why opposition captains plan their whole powerplay around him.
The fourth T20I is on Friday, October 30, at Eden Park in Auckland. With the series already won, the question is whether India rest a few players or go after another clean sweep.