Munro ton fires Black Caps to series-levelling win
New Zealand beat India by 40 runs in 2nd T20 DICC register first victory of season
New Zealand batsman Colin Munro plays a shot during the second T20 international cricket match between India and New Zealand at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on Nov 4. (AFP)
RAJKOT, India, Nov 4, (AFP): Opener Colin Munro hit a blistering century to help New Zealand down India by 40 runs in the second T20 international and level the series at 1-1 on Saturday.
Munro smashed an unbeaten 58-ball 109 to propel the Kiwis to 196-2 and in reply, the hosts could only manage 156-7 at the batting-friendly Rajkot Stadium.
Kiwi fast bowler Trent Boult claimed four wickets to flatten the Indian chase despite a valiant 42-ball 65 from Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who got little help from the other end.
Boult hurt India’s reply with his leftarm pace to get two wickets in his very first over and send the openers trudging back to the pavilion.
The left-handed Shikhar Dhawan
DICC team pose for a group photo after winning the tournament. The Durrar Indians won the first ever match against Royal Star by 3 runs for the ongoing MG7 trophy.
After winning the toss, the Royal Star chose to field and the Durrar Indians managed to post 129 for 9 in the allotted 20 overs.
Stany Alva top scored with 21 runs, with other notable contributions coming from skipper Fredrick 13, Shekhar 12, Dr Prabhat 17, Dr Gagan 14 and Preetham 14 who remained unbeaten.
In reply Royal Star struggled against tight bowling and some nice fielding by Durrar restricted the free-scoring Royal Star.
Mushy as usual gave the breakthrough by removing Hafeez. He was followed by Fred whose economical bowling 2 for 18 runs in 4 overs earned him Man of the Match award. Other bowlers who contributed in DICC victory were Shakeel Sr., Mushtaque 2/23, Binu 1/28, Preetham 1/29.
For Royal Star skipper Naeem top scored with 35 runs, hard hitting Shahzad gave some hope by putting 30 runs on the board but his undoing in over 16, caught and bowled by Fred sealed the fate of Royal Star. They lost by three runs.