Skipper Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube after winning the 2nd T20 match between India and New Zealand at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in Raipur on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini
Ishan Kishan always looks like a man in a hurry. Back in the national set-up after a long break, the flashy southpaw didn’t let the early dismissal of the openers curb his natural attacking instincts as he flayed a 32-ball 76 (11×4, 4×6) to power India to a dominant seven-wicket win in the second T20I against New Zealand at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium here on Friday (January 23, 2026).
After Kishan’s pyrotechnics, captain Suryakumar Yadav (82 n.o., 37b, 9×4, 4×6) unfurled some brilliant shots. He took the team home in the company of Shivam Dube (36 n.o., 18b, 1×4, 3×6) with 28 balls to spare as India made it 2-0.
After Sanju Samson fell for six and Abhishek Sharma departed for a first-ball duck, the Jharkhand batter wasted no time in wading into the opposition bowlers. His blistering 122-run stand for the third wicket from just 48 deliveries with Suryakumar Yadav made it a walk in the park for the Men in Blue while chasing a target of 209.
It was a forgettable night for Mitchell Santner & Co. with the ball as Kishan and Suryakumar hardly put a foot wrong. The two peppered the boundary repeatedly, coming up with delightful shots.
Pacer Zak Foulkes bore the brunt of Kishan and Suryakumar’s thrilling strokeplay as he conceded 49 runs in his first two overs.
Earlier, Santner’s unbeaten 27-ball 47 (6×4, 1×6) enabled New Zealand make 208 for six in 20 overs in an effort which saw them fail to seize the initiative when presented with the chance.
Sent in to bat, the Kiwis appeared to fritter away a flying start provided by Devon Conway (19, 9b, 3×4, 1×6) and Tim Seifert (24, 13b, 5×4) losing wickets when poised for the push with only Rachin Ravindra (44, 26b, 2×4, 4×6) and Santner being able to force the pace.
Up against an attack missing the rested Jasprit Bumrah and the injured Axar Patel, Conway picked up 18 runs in the opening over from Arshdeep Singh, including a slashed six over backward-point.
The left-arm pacer conceded an equal number of runs in the third over as Seifert hit four consecutive boundaries.
Spinner Kuldeep Yadav signalled a return to form, picking up two wickets while the other bowlers made sure that the visitor didn’t run away with the match after a rapid start.
Published – January 23, 2026 07:36 pm IST
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