KL Rahul smashed an unbeaten 57 off 50 balls and Shreyas Iyer scored an equally important 44 off 33 balls as India beat New Zealand by 7 wickets at Eden Park to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
The Men in Blue are now favorites to win their first-ever T20I series in New Zealand.
Earlier, Ravindra Jadeja struck twice while Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur and Shivam Dube took one each for India as India restricted New Zealand at 132-5 in 20 overs during the second T20I in Auckland. Martin Guptill was the top-scorer for the hosts with a 20-ball 33.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
Over 300 runs for KL Rahul in his last 5 T20 innings.
Very impressed with the versatility that he has shown and adapted to different positions and roles.
Great support from Shreyas Iyer.
But this win was set up bey the bowlers who did not let NZ bataman to get away #IndvsNZ pic.twitter.com/uHTMc0XSKa— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) January 26, 2020
The support at Eden Park for India makes it seem like Eden Gardens. Amazing consistency from KL Rahul , and Shreyas Iyer getting better with each game. But a special mention to the bowlers today- Shami, Bumrah , Jadeja were top class. Clinical win #INDvsNZ pic.twitter.com/hhIcoMzLP7
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) January 26, 2020
Perfect win no.2 for India!
NZ went from 48/1 in the powerplay to 94/4 after 15 overs!
Indian bowlers set the game up in the middle overs for the team to win, as clinical @klrahul11 and @ShreyasIyer15 walked yet another chase.
Different conditions, same result!#NZvsIND pic.twitter.com/epWu3ROQLC
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) January 26, 2020
Brilliant bowling performance by team India. Real contarst from the first game. Simple but Good plan to ball slightly shorter length to use bigger boundaries on the side. #jadaja #bumrah #shivam #shami #shardul #chahal
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) January 26, 2020
Excellent adaptation to the conditions … and execution from the #TeamIndia bowlers today #INDvsNZ
— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath) January 26, 2020
2-0 up #INDvsNZ congratulations @BCCI well played @klrahul11 @ShreyasIyer15 superb bowling @imjadeja
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) January 26, 2020
KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer's explosive batting powers India to a seven-wicket win in the second T20I 💥
🇮🇳 now lead the series 2-0!#NZvIND pic.twitter.com/fQY3JgfXjp
— ICC (@ICC) January 26, 2020
Another win 🇮🇳👏👏👏 well done team india 🇮🇳 brilliant bowlling performances @Jaspritbumrah93 @MdShami11 @imjadeja 👌👌👏👏 and top knock @ShreyasIyer15 👏 and @klrahul11 👏👏👏😊 congratulations guys 😊🇮🇳 2-0
— Rahul Sharma (@ImRahulSharma3) January 26, 2020
While we mention @klrahul11 and @ShreyasIyer15 this game was won by the bowlers. @imjadeja a superb effort and @MdShami11 @Jaspritbumrah93 were both terrific not to forget the last power play over from @imShard
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) January 26, 2020
KL Rahul's first two T20Is as wicketkeeper:
56 vs New Zealand, 24 Jan 2020
57* vs New Zealand, 26 Jan 2020KL Rahul is now the 1st player to score fifties in first two matches as a wicketkeeper in the history of T20I cricket. #NZvIND
— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) January 26, 2020
लगातार दूसरे मैच में जड्डू ने तगड़ी गेंदबाज़ी की। 2 wickets in 4 overs and conceded just 18 runs! Only bowler who didn't give a four or six in his bowling! Outstanding effort by @imjadeja helped India keeping New Zealand very quiet in the middle overs. #NZvsIND pic.twitter.com/n3smkRcPDe
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) January 26, 2020
4-18-2 at Eden Park. Sir Jadeja🙏 #NZvIND
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) January 26, 2020
From just 35 innings, KL Rahul has 11 fifty and 2 hundred in T20 Internationals. Just Wow. #NZvIND
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) January 26, 2020
An explosive 3⃣rd wicket stand between KL Rahul (5⃣7⃣*) & @ShreyasIyer15 (4⃣4⃣) sealed a comfortable victory for #TeamIndia in the second T20I 👊
Next stop, Hamilton ✈#NZvIND #ThisIsNewDelhi #DelhiCapitals pic.twitter.com/J0hioTBy7u
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) January 26, 2020
#RepublicDay done right! ✅#TeamIndia lost couple of early wickets, but post that, it was a walk in the Eden Park for the visitors! 🙌
🇳🇿 0 – 2 🇮🇳#SaddaPunjab #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/Po1Prechvf
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) January 26, 2020
1st T20I ☑️
2nd T20I ☑️🧡🇮🇳 #TeamIndia 🇮🇳🧡#NZvIND #OrangeArmy #RepublicDayIndia (📸: BCCI) pic.twitter.com/OTjdxQ0Hmg
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) January 26, 2020
