RAIPUR, India — Captain Mitchell Santner’s unbeaten 47 and a fluent 44 from Rachin Ravindra powered New Zealand to 208 for 6, their third-highest T20I total against India and the highest-ever T20 score at the venue, in the second T20I at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium on Friday.
The total marked New Zealand’s third 200-plus score against India, alongside 219 for 6 in Wellington in 2019 and 212 for 4 in Hamilton the same year, and surpassed their earlier efforts of 203 for 5 in Auckland in 2020 and 196 for 2 in Rajkot in 2017.
New Zealand’s new opening pair of Devon Conway and Tim Seifert set the tone with a rapid start, racing to 43 runs in just three overs. India struck back through Harshit Rana, who dismissed Conway for 19 off nine balls in a wicket-maiden over. Varun Chakaravarthy followed up in the next over by removing Seifert for 24 off 13 balls, briefly slowing the scoring in what remained a high-tempo innings.
Rachin Ravindra steadied New Zealand after the early wickets, adding 55 runs for the third wicket with Glenn Phillips, who made 19 off 13 deliveries. Ravindra continued to anchor the innings as wickets fell at the other end, with Daryl Mitchell scoring 18 off 11 balls and Mark Chapman making 10 off 13 before being dismissed. Ravindra’s knock ended in the 13th over when he was out for 44 off 26 balls, having struck two fours and four sixes.
From there, Santner took control. The left-hander timed his acceleration to perfection, dominating the closing overs and pushing the total beyond 200. He finished unbeaten on 47 from 27 balls, providing a composed yet forceful finish on a good batting surface.
India’s bowlers found it difficult to contain New Zealand’s scoring. Arshdeep Singh endured a tough outing, conceding 53 runs without taking a wicket. Hardik Pandya was the most economical, returning figures of 1 for 25 from three overs. Harshit Rana finished with 1 for 35 from three overs despite his wicket-maiden, while Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakaravarthy combined to take three wickets for 70 runs across eight overs. Shivam Dube also chipped in with one wicket.
Brief scores: New Zealand 208/6 in 20 overs (Mitchell Santner 47 not out, Rachin Ravindra 44; Kuldeep Yadav 2-35, Hardik Pandya 1-25) against India. (Source: IANS)
