Superb knocks by Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul helped India chase down the target of 204 against New Zealand in the first T20I of the five-match series at Eden Park on Friday.
Rahul scored 56 and Iyer remained unbeaten at 58.
Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif took to Twitter praising the 25-year-old batsman for his performance. “You’ve seen the rise of #ViratKohli, of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and now KL Rahul too. Watch out for the next big thing @ShreyasIyer15 , Such ease and composure despite playing in New Zealand for the first time!” Kaif tweeted.
You’ve seen the rise of #ViratKohli, of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and now KL Rahul too.
Watch out for the next big thing – @ShreyasIyer15
Such ease and composure despite playing in New Zealand for the first time! #NZvsIND
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) January 24, 2020
The Men in Blue suffered a huge blow as Virat Kohli (45) was dismissed by Blair Tickner, thereby reducing India to 121/3 in the 12th over. Iyer and Manish Pandey calmed some nerves in the Indian camp and the duo ensured the victory for the side by six wickets with six balls to spare.
Iyer and Pandey remained unbeaten on 58 and 14, respectively.
India and New Zealand will take on each other in the second T20I on January 26.
Brief Scores: India 204/4 (KL Rahul 56, Shreyas Iyer 58*, Ish Sodhi 2-36) defeat New Zealand 203/5 (Colin Munro 59, Ross Raylor 54*, Ravindra Jadeja 1-18) by six wickets.