New Delhi: Riding on Colin Munro's brilliant hundred and pacer Trent Boult's lethal opening spell, New Zealand beat India by 40 runs in the second T20I in Rajkot on Saturday.
With the win, the three-match T20I series now stands even at 1-1.
Earlier, Kane Williamson opted to bat and his side started the proceedings in an aggressive manner.
The right-left batting combination of Martin Guptill and Munro piled up 105 for the first wicket before Guptill gave an easy catch to Hardik Pandya stationed at long off position off Yuzvendra Chahal.
Later, captain Williamson became the victim of the debutant and his Sunrisers Hyderabad teammate Mohammed Siraj to give the fast bowler his first international wicket.
While Munro scored runs in an aggressive manner, he also rode a bit on his luck as the left-hander was dropped twice and survived a run-out chance but capitalised on the chances given to him well to score his second T20I ton.
For India, it was Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah who put a halt on New Zealand's run flow in Rajkot.
India's chase was dented early by Boult as he removed both the openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma cheaply.
Skipper Virat Kohli got another fifty but failed to win the game for India.
MS Dhoni, who fell on 49 in the last over, was struggling in the middle and could not rotate the strike at the right times and consequently was trolled by Team India fans.
Dhoni stretching his career like. pic.twitter.com/NkEdj09nDM
— Sumit Chaurasia (@sumitmhb11) November 4, 2017
Watching Dhoni bat the way he bats these days when the going is tough, is as painful as a root canal treatment.
— Parijat Sourabh (@SourabhPool) November 4, 2017
What Dhoni did in Todays Match..#indvsnz pic.twitter.com/cl6IR7f9Eg
— Wali (@iamWali10) November 4, 2017
Dhoni is finished he should retire
— Pranjal Verma (@Pranjay96) November 4, 2017
#Dhoni
Interviewer: How flexible are you?
Me: pic.twitter.com/syZWmjiKKY— Firoz Khan (@awesomefiroz) November 4, 2017
Dhoni the 12th player of Newzealand#INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/YtEKK9E2Zq
— Shubham (@iShubham24) November 4, 2017
Baba Ramdev Invented a new YOGA which is did by Dhoni in today's Match. #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/SrkaucDwZO
— (@A_P_4720) November 4, 2017
In the end, the Men in Blue could manage just 156 runs in 20 overs.
The third and final T20I will be played in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.
