• India defeated New Zealand by 73 runs to register a clean sweep.

  • Axar Patel returned with impressive figures of 3-0-9-3.

Twitter reactions: Rohit Sharma, Axar Patel shine as India whitewash New Zealand in T20I series
India beat New Zealand in 3rd T20I (Image Source: Twitter)

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India steamrolled New Zealand in the third T20 International (T20I) at Eden Gardens in Kolkata to register a clean sweep in the three-match series.

After opting to bat first, the hosts got off to a tremendous start as captain Rohit Sharma and his partner Ishan Kishan took the team to a flyer.

The pair added 69 runs for the opening wicket in 6 overs before New Zealand’s stand-in skipper Mitchell Santner brought the speed breakers by dismissing Kishan (29), Suryakumar Yadav (0), and Rishabh Pant (4) to reduce India to 83/3 in nine overs.

Soon, Rohit smashed a crucial half-century, but Ish Sodhi removed him to deteriorate Indian batting further. The Mumbaikar hit 56 from 31 deliveries with the help of five fours and three sixes.

Shreyas Iyer (25 off 20), Venkatesh Iyer (20 off 15), Harshal Patel (18 off 11) and Deepak Chahar (21* off 8) made valuable contributions down the order to help India post a massive total of 184/7 on the board in 20 overs.

In reply, New Zealand got bundled out for a mere 111 and lost the contest by a huge margin of 73 runs. The Black Caps batting unit fell like a pack of cards with as many as eight batters registered single-digit scores, including two ducks. Opener Martin Guptill top-scored with 51 off 36 balls, with the help of eight boundaries.

For the home team, Axar Patel shined with the ball and picked up a three-wicket haul while conceding only nine runs in three overs. Harshal also performed well as he took a couple of scalps for 26 runs in three overs.

Here is how Twitter reacted:

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CATEGORY: India Twitter Reactions

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