Rohit Sharma belted two sixes off the final two deliveries of a Super Over to give India victory in the third T20I against New Zealand at Seddon Park here on Wednesday. The visitors thus clinched the series 3-0 with two games to spare.
Rohit finished on 15 not out after he hit two sixes off Tim Southee to lead India to 20-0 after the Kiwis had scored 17-0 off Jasprit Bumrah (Kane Williamson 11, Martin Guptill 5).
Dramatic final over
New Zealand captain Williamson had almost single-handedly led his side to a win in the regulation 20 overs when he blasted 95 from 48 balls but was dismissed by Mohammed Shami with three balls remaining in the final over and two runs needed for victory.
Shami, however, conceded just one run through a bye off the penultimate ball, then bowled Ross Taylor to leave New Zealand on 179 for six.
India, which scored 179 for five in its innings, won the first two games of the five-match series in Auckland.
Rohit (65) and K.L. Rahul had given India a blistering start, with Rohit reaching his 20th T20I half-century inside the first six overs as they put on 77 runs in the first seven.
Rahul was dismissed off the final ball of the ninth over, but with the score at 89 for one and with 11 overs remaining, India was still well placed to score over 200 before New Zealand clamped down in the second half of the innings.
Hamish Bennett, who got clubbed for three sixes and two fours by Rohit in the sixth over, dismissed the Indian opener in the 11th and, two balls later, got rid of Shivam Dube.
The fourth game will be played in Wellington on Friday.
Scoreboard:
INDIA
Rohit Sharma c Southee b Bennett 65 (40b, 6x4, 3x6), K.L. Rahul c Munro b de Grandhomme 27 (19b, 2x4, 1x6), Shivam Dube c Sodhi b Bennett 3 (7b), Virat Kohli c Southee b Bennett 38 (27b, 2x4, 1x6), Shreyas Iyer st. Seifert b Santner 17 (16b, 1x6), Manish Pandey (not out) 14 (6b, 1x4, 1x6), Ravindra Jadeja (not out) 10 (5b, 1x6); Extras (b-1, lb-2, w-2): 5; Total (for five wkts. in 20 overs): 179.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-89 (Rahul, 8.6 overs), 2-94 (Rohit, 10.4), 3-96 (Dube, 10.6), 4-142 (Shreyas, 16.6), 5-160 (Kohli, 18.5).
NEW ZEALAND BOWLING
Southee 4-0-39-0, Bennett 4-0-54-3, Kuggeleijn 2-0-10-0, Santner 4-0-37-1, Sodhi 4-0-23-0, de Grandhomme 2-0-13-1.
NEW ZEALAND
Martin Guptill c sub (Samson) b Shardul 31 (21b, 2x4, 3x6), Colin Munro st. Rahul b Jadeja 14 (16b, 2x4), Kane Williamson c Rahul b Shami 95 (48b, 8x4, 6x6), Mitchell Santner b Chahal 9 (11b, 1x4), Colin de Grandhomme c Dube b Shardul 5 (12b), Ross Taylor b Shami 17 (10b, 1x4, 1x6), Tim Seifert (not out) 0 (2b); Extras (b-6, lb-2): 8; Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs): 179.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-47 (Guptill, 5.4), 2-52 (Munro, 6.2), 3-88 (Santner, 10.4), 4-137 (de Grandhomme, 15.6), 5-178 (Williamson, 19.3), 6-179 (Taylor, 19.6).
INDIA BOWLING
Shardul 3-0-21-2, Shami 4-0-32-2, Bumrah 4-0-45-0, Chahal 4-0-36-1, Jadeja 4-0-23-1, Dube 1-0-14-0.
Toss: New Zealand.
Match tied.
Super Over: New Zealand 17 for no loss, India 20 for no loss.
Man-of-the-Match: Rohit.
India takes a 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
Fourth T20I: January 31 (Friday), Wellington, 12.30 p.m.
