For the first time in men’s T20I cricket, five Indian bowlers conceded 40 or more runs in an innings as New Zealand piled up 225/8 in the first T20I in Christchurch on Thursday. The hosts took advantage of India’s struggles with the ball, with Finn Allen scoring 45 off 24 balls and Glenn Phillips remaining unbeaten on 82 off 40.The feat had occurred 13 times overall in men’s T20Is, but this was the first instance involving five Indian bowlers in the same innings. Bhuvneshwar Kumar conceded 49 runs in four overs, Arshdeep Singh gave away 45, Mayank Yadav 40, Axar Patel 51 and Nitish Reddy 40.New Zealand’s total was the joint-highest against India in T20Is and their highest on home soil.With Jasprit Bumrah not part of the squad, the Indian attack struggled to contain the hosts despite some early swing on offer. New Zealand’s openers dealt with the movement before taking on the bowlers, with Tim Seifert scoring 24 off 17 balls.Bhuvneshwar, playing his first international match in nearly four years, began with a decent first over. However, Seifert hit him for two fours and a six over long-on in his next over, which cost India 17 runs.Allen then attacked Arshdeep in the following over, which also went for 17 runs, giving New Zealand momentum in the powerplay. The openers were particularly effective at finding boundaries on the off-side.Mayank was brought into the attack during the powerplay and gave India a breakthrough when Seifert was caught behind off the final ball of the fifth over.Axar was handed the final over of the powerplay, but the left-arm spinner conceded two sixes. Allen cleared long-off before Daryl Mitchell stepped out and sent the ball over the long-on boundary. New Zealand reached 65/1 in the first six overs.Arshdeep dismissed Mitchell in his second spell, but Bhuvneshwar continued to struggle. His third over cost 14 runs before he was given the responsibility of bowling the final over, which also went for 14. He finished with figures of 0/49 in four overs.Phillips remained unbeaten and finished the innings with a switch hit over cover. Bevon Jacobs also made an impact with 31 off 16 balls, including a first-ball six down the ground off Arshdeep.New Zealand scored 67 runs in the final five overs to cross the 200-run mark, putting India’s bowling attack under pressure throughout the innings.
