Coming in at 80/3 in the first ODI at the Wankhede, Latham and Ross Taylor put on a 200-run partnership to help chase down India's target of 281 with an over to spare. He scored a match-winning 103 not-out as the Southpaw counter-attacked the spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav with sweeps and reverse-sweeps, with the Indian bowlers not able to maintain any sustained pressure during the chase. Latham in the process upstaged India skipper Virat Kohli's knock of 121 in the first innings.
Kumar removed the dangerous opening duo of Martin Guptill and Colin Munro in his first spell as he sent the Kiwis back up against a wall. As middle order batsmen Henry Nicholls and Colin de Grandhomme looked for a final push after they steadied the ship for the Kiwis, Kohli turned to Kumar and the pacer did not disappoint. He provided the breakthrough India needed, rearranging Nicholls' stumps with a searing delivery. He helped restrict New Zealand to 230, which the Indian batsmen chased with ease with six wickets to spare.
After misfiring in the first two ODIs Rohit Sharma showed his knack for scoring big centuries, playing a gem in the decider at Kanpur. His 168-minute stay included 18 hits to the boundary and two beyond them. The opening batsman was involved in a record-breaking fourth double-century partnership with Kohli, who helped himself to a run-a-ball century. Although India needed its pacers Bhuvneshwar and Jasprit Bumrah to seal the game, and the series, Rohit's knock was instrumental in India picking up its seventh-straight bilateral series win.
After being forced to take an absence away from the game, Dhawan returned to his stomping ground in New Delhi with a 55-ball 80 as India breached the 200-mark. The left-handed batsman put on a record first-wicket partnership in T20I for India with Rohit - 158 - to help set up a 53-run win. Dhawan's knock was studded with six 4s and four 6s. The game was veteran paceman Ashish Nehra's swansong.
Munro continued his fine run in T20Is this year. He smashed his way to his second century in this format. His 58-ball knock consisted of seven 4s and 6s, as he took particular exception to Axar Patel, hitting him out of the park on three occasions. He was also severe on debutant Mohammed Siraj, who leaked 53 runs off his four overs. Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah limited the Munro carnage in the death overs, but the damage was already done to heap on the asking rate. The Kiwis levelled the T20 series with a 40-run win as India failed to chase 197.
In a rain-curtailed game that was restricted to eight-overs per side, Bumrah proved to be the most effective with the ball. He helped India maintain an unbeaten home series run. Put into bat, the host only managed 67 on the board but Bumrah made sure the target was tougher to chase for the Kiwis than to pronounce Thiruvananthapuram. The 'death bowler' specialist deceived the dangerous Munro as he prised out the southpaw cheaply in the chase. That wicket put the brakes on the Kiwis as they never threatened to overhaul the target, struggling to counter Bumrah's slower deliveries and yorkers. India won by six runs and clinched its first T20 series win over the Black Caps.
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