Raipur, Jan 23 (IANS) Skipper Suryakumar Yadav finally produced a big one, scoring an unbeaten 82 while Ishan Kishan contributed a fiery 76 as India romped to a seven-wicket victory with 28 balls remaining against New Zealand in the second T20I at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur, and go 2-0 up in the five-match series.

It was also the second-highest successful chase in India’s T20I history. Only India’s 211/4 against Sri Lanka in Mohali in 2009 stands above it, with the Raipur effort also eclipsing chases of 209/4 vs West Indies (Hyderabad, 2019), 209/8 vs Australia (Vizag, 2023), and 204/4 vs New Zealand (Auckland, 2020).

The emphatic finish was also the biggest win by balls remaining for a full member nation while chasing a target of over 200. It surpassed Pakistan’s 24-ball victory against New Zealand in Auckland in 2025 and Australia’s 23-ball win over West Indies in Basseterre that same year.

Despite having a little help from the dew, India’s response started shakily. Sanju Samson went out for 6, Abhishek Sharma made a golden duck, and all of a sudden, the hosts were down to 6 for 2. However, what followed was a mind-blowing counterattack. Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav put up 122 runs in a mere 48 balls for the third wicket, suddenly turning what had looked like a tough chase into an easy stroll.

Kishan inflicted the majority of the damage with his aggression early on and had 76 from 32 balls – including a 21-ball fifty – before he got out, mis-hitting Ish Sodhi for a catch off his own bowling. By that time, the damage had already been done.

Suryakumar, who had been struggling on 10 from 10 balls at one point in time, then flipped a switch and began to accelerate. As a bonus, Shivam Dube was moved up the order to hit a quickfire 36 (200 SR) and assisted Suryakumar in putting up 81 runs together in the fourth wicket partnership, to easily finish the chase.

Suryakumar finished with an impressive 82 from only 37 balls, reemphasising his class and importance to the team, only weeks leading into a home T20 World Cup.

Earlier, New Zealand set India a tough target after Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and chose to bowl. Both openers got good starts but could not build on that. Rachin Ravindra top-scored with a solid 44 off 26 balls. Skipper Mitchell Santner gave the innings a crucial boost with an unbeaten 47 off 27 balls, helping the visitors pass the 200-run mark. Zak Foulkes also contributed by remaining not out on 15 off 8. New Zealand finished with a total of 208/6.

New Zealand’s bowlers had a chance to prove themselves on the night, but they had an unsuccessful evening. Zak Foulkes had no luck in his three overs, giving up 67 runs – the highest ever for a T20I bowler who is a member of one of the full member teams – breaking the previous record of 63 runs held by Liam McCarthy (Ireland) against the West Indies at Bready in 2025.

Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy, and Matt Henry managed to take one wicket each, but merely taking three wickets was not sufficient to stop the onslaught of runs from India. When Henry started well, it was a crucial decision to turn to Foulkes as the first change, and he went for 24 runs in his first over – the first time that Kishan really got his rhythm going. Thereafter, things went downhill for New Zealand, with some additional missed fielding opportunities compounding the problems.

For India, Kuldeep Yadav was the standout bowler, taking two wickets for 35 runs. Hardik Pandya, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, and Shivam Dube each took one wicket. However, the rest of the bowling attack struggled to keep the scoring in check on a surface that favoured batting.

Brief scores:

New Zealand 208/6 in 20 overs (Mitchell Santner 47, Rachin Ravindra 44; Kuldeep Yadav 2-35, Hardik Pandya 1-25) lost to India 209/3 in 15.2 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 82 not out, Ishan Kishan 76; Jacob Duffy 1-38, Ish Sodhi 1-34) by seven wickets.

–IANS

hs/bsk/