India v New Zealand, 2017: 3rd T20I – Statistical Highlights

Thiruvananthapuram city’s first International game in 29 years turned out to be a cracker with Team India winning the series decider by six runs in the rain-shortened game. India posted 67/5 in the restricted eight overs at the Greenfield Stadium in Karyavattom, their 50th International stadium. Indian bowlers stepped up to defend what looked to be a low score in the 8 overs-a-side fixture.

Here are the stats and numbers which were created during the shortened series decider.

1 – For the first time in International cricket, MS Dhoni batted in an innings without facing a delivery. Dhoni remained unbeaten without scoring a run on two occasions previously but faced at least one ball.

3 – This series is only the 2nd 3-match T20I series where chasing teams lost all the three matches. The Pakistan-England series in 2012 played in the UAE was the first T20I series of three or more matches where the chasing sides lost all.

4 – This was the 4th time India featured in a bilateral series decider in T20I cricket. They faced Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in 2016 and England in 2017 in the 3rd and final match after the series was level at 1-1. India won on all four occasions.

7 – Jasprit Bumrah is now the 7th Indian to receive a man of the series award in T20I cricket. Virat Kohli alone won five such awards while remaining six including Bumrah have one each.

17 – The 17 runs by Colin de Grandhomme and Manish Pandey are the highest individual scores in this game. The ‘17’ is the 3rd least highest in a T20I game which had seen more than ten overs of play. Ireland-Bermuda T20I in 2008 had the highest individual score of eight runs while Netherlands-Sri Lanka T20I in 2014 had the highest of 16.

67/5 – India’s total of 67 is the 3rd lowest first-innings total that earned the team a win. Ireland won after posting 43 in a 9-over game against Bermuda in 2008 while Netherlands defended 59 in a 6-over game against Ireland in 2016.

84 – Number of balls bowled in this T20I. This is the joint 4th smallest result producing game in T20I cricket. Ireland-Netherlands T20I in 2016 WT20 at Dharamsala lasted 12 overs as the game was reduced to 6 overs-a-side.

100 – This was New Zealand’s 100th game in T20I cricket. They are the 3rd team after Pakistan and South Africa to play 100 T20I matches. South Africa and Pakistan won their respective 100th T20I while New Zealand lost their milestone game.