India on Sunday completed a whitewash of New Zealand after it defeated the Kiwis in the final T20 International match to win the series 5-0.
Batting first India had scored 163-3 in their quota of 20 overs. Rohit Sharma made 60 as he hit 21st half-century of his T20 International career.
In response, New Zealand could make only 156-9. Their defeat surprised many as the hosts were seen to be cruising at one point and appeared set to achieve the target without any fuss. Ross Taylor and Tim Seifert made half-centuries for their side, but rest of the players failed to contribute with batting.
Ish Sodhi gave some hope to Kiwis as he hit Thakur for two huge sixes in the last over, but this was too late.
For India, Jasprit Bumrah took three wickets, while Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur scalped two wickets each. Bumrah was adjudged Man Of The Match.
Reacting to India’s win, Rahul said, “Very pleased, great to be standing here with a five-nil. We have been playing exceptional T20 cricket, to come here and execute our skills every game, to have squeezed out wins, is a confidence booster. Not thinking about T20 World Cup, hopefully, I can continue playing this way.”