T20I series: Abhishek-Vaibhav storm blows over the Kiwis at Wellington

The pre-match chatter was whether strong winds could pose a few problems at Wellington for both India and New Zealand. What transpired was a thunderstorm called Abhishek Sharma as he swept to his 11^th T20I century while the Men in Blue made an emphatic statement about their status as back-to-back world champions in this format on Tuesday.

If the first two games were a case of small margins with Mitchell Santner’s men promising an intense series before going down, the Abhishek Sharma-Vaibhav Sooryavanshi onslaught in the third must have left them completely demoralised. Up by an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series, India may not like to take their feet off the pedal in the remaining two games as the hosts desperately look for a turnaround.   

While Abhishek, now the No.2 ranked T20 batter in the world after a long reign at the top continued to rise in stature as he overtook Virat Kohli’s number of centuries in this format (11), his 133-run partnership which Vaibhav now offers a refreshing option for Gautam Gambhir at the top of the order. While they will not have the luxury of such smaller square boundaries at Wellington and a bounce everywhere to suit their strokeplay, the strike rate of the duo told it’s own story.

While Abhishek’s 113 off 38 balls shows a strike rate of 297.37, Vaibhav’s 45 off 19 came at 236.84 and their unbroken 113 after powerplay—a record among full member nations—sealed the fate of the match in their chase of a little undar-par 199. It was a partnership which left their teammates in awe but the centurion summed it with a different perspective: ‘’The key was pretty simple: Vaibhav and I enjoyed our time.’’  

Bhuvneswar Kumar, the senior paceman who had a decent game after his comeback into the Indian dressing room after four years, said: ‘’Abhishek (and our batters) had been doing this for a number of years now, though it’s not an easy thing to do. He and Vaibhav literally finished the game in six overs.’’

Abhishek is now in third position among alltime high centurions in T20 cricket with 11 centuries—with ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle sitting on top of the table with 22 centuries and Babar Azam second at 11. Quinton de Kock, Kohli and David Warner are huddled together after that with 10 centuries each.

The tone for the evening was set up from the start itself when Jacob Duffy’s first over went for 26 runs and the openers never let up. Abhishek hit nine fours and 11 sixes in his 38-ball knock, receiving a standing ovation when he eventually fell to the bowling of Kyle Jamieson. However, India had reached 178-2 in just 10 overs and the match looked over as a contest.

“Getting 100 in five overs—I have not seen that before at the international level,” India captain Shreyas Iyer gushed.

The fourth T20I will be held at Eden Park in Auckland on 30 October (Friday).