India 199 for 4 in 13.2 overs (Abhishek 113, Sooryavanshi 45, Jamieson 2-45) beat New Zealand 198 for 3 (Mitchell 89*, Allen 40) by six wickets
This sort of thing has happened before. Famously, Netherlands did it at the 2014 T20 World Cup, chasing down 190 against Ireland in 13.5 overs to qualify for the Super 10 stage. But that was a response to a specific demand, a team batting out of their skins to meet a net-run-rate target.
On Tuesday, when India chased down 199 in a mere 13.2 overs in Wellington, they did so as a matter of course. This is how they bat. This is how Abhishek Sharma bats in any T20 game. He rushed to his fifty in 15 balls, got to his fourth T20I hundred in 35 balls, and along the way performed an even more remarkable feat, upstaging Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in a 133-run opening stand that consumed just 7.1 overs. Abhishek and Sooryavanshi took India to a T20I record 118 for no loss in a powerplay where it didn't seem to matter what lines and lengths New Zealand bowled.
All that had mattered in the first half of this match, where India's fast bowlers had used the exaggeratedly oval dimensions of Hnry Stadium (long straight boundaries, short square boundaries) expertly to contain New Zealand, bowling full and straight and generating reverse swing.
None of it mattered when Abhishek and Sooryavanshi batted. They tore up the notion that bowlers begin every play in cricket. When these two bat, the thoughts of what they could do, where they could move in the crease, and where they could potentially hit the ball have already influenced the bowler's choice of delivery. No choice worked on this day, and India ran away to victory in absurdly quick time, sealing a series win with two gams to go.
More to follow…