India 234/4 in 20 overs (Gill 126*, Rahul Tripathi 44, Daryl Mitchell 1/6) beat New Zealand 66 all out in 12.1 overs (Daryl Mitchell 35, Pandya 4/16) by 168 runs.

I have used the word demolish but you could easily replace it with a number of other synonyms.

A 168 run defeat in a T20 is the equivalent of an innings defeat in test cricket and that two with a couple of days to spare.

Anyone who has played cricket at any level will know that there are days when one team plays a near perfect game and the other team just doesn’t turn up.

This game once again proved why it is so difficult to come to India and win a series in any format.

Like he did with his double hundred in the ODI against New Zealand, Shubman Gill pretty much single handedly helped India post 234 on arguably the best batting surface of the tour. Shubman scored 126 in 63 deliveries striking at 200 and studded with 12 boundaries and 7 sixes.

Since the T20 world cup in Australia last year (an event that he wasn’t a part of) Shubman Gill has scored 1034 runs across all the 3 formats at a stunning average of 61. It includes a double hundred, 4 hundreds and 2 fifties.

We Indians are a superstitious lot and when something is going really good we tend to protect it from the devil’s evil eye by putting a black dot on whatever it is that we want to protect. All of India would currently want to put a black dot on Shubman’s bat to protect his form until the end of the ODI world cup in India later this year.

While talking about Shubman one mustn’t forget about the supporting cast around him. Rahul Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya all played selflessly to keep scoring at phenomenal strike rates to ensure that India got a really big total.

When you are chasing 235 to win in 20 overs normally one of the following two things happen. The chasing side either gets really close and sometimes manages to win a nail biting thriller or the chasing side just crumbles under the sheer pressure of the required run rate. 

Unfortunately for New Zealand the latter happened and the whole side was dismissed for 66 in 12.1 overs resulting in an Indian win by 168 runs.

It’s been a disappointing tour for the blackcaps after the highs of Pakistan. Yes, they were missing the services of some of their regular players but still they would have hoped for a much better show.

They return home to face England in a two test series starting in 2 weeks’ time. India on the other hand face Australia at home in four test matches, the first of which starts in a week.

It’s an extremely important series for India as a victory in that series will guarantee them a place in the world test championships final against Australia. The cricketing juggernaut keeps rolling.