Twitter Reactions India vs New Zealand 2023

'Bharat Khud Hi Haar Gaya Hai' - Fans rip apart team India after losing to New Zealand in first T20I

India and New Zealand faced off against each other in the first T20I at Ranchi on Friday and here's how fans have reacted to the thriller.

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Rohit Kumar
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IND vs NZ, 1st T20I, 2023, Ranchi: 'Bharat Khud Hi Haar Gaya Hai' - Fans rip apart team India after losing to New Zealand in first T20I

IND vs NZ, 1st T20I, 2023, Ranchi: 'Bharat Khud Hi Haar Gaya Hai' - Fans rip apart team India after losing to New Zealand in first T20I (Image Source: Twitter)

India squared off against New Zealand in the first T20I of the three-match series on January 27, Friday and it was the Men in Blue captain Hardik Pandya who called it right at the toss and elected to field first. Fans claimed that it was a wise decision considering the pitch often favours chasing and with depth in the line-up, the Pandya-led looked confident of chasing the target. 

To add more, it was a decent powerplay for the Black Caps as they got off to a great start with the openers toying with the Indian pacers. In no time, at the end of 4 overs, the Kiwis were reeling at 37/0 and it was Washington Sundar who provided the breakthrough with his double-wicket over. For the unversed, Sundar got rid of Finn Allen for 35 and Mark Chapman for a duck. 

However, the other opener Devon Conway kept rolling and reached the half-century landmark off just 31 balls, keeping New Zealand in the race to put on a huge total, although it looked unlikely at the rate Conway and Daryl Mitchell were batting. Much to the surprise of the Indian fans, Mitchell bounced back in the final over and helped the Kiwis put on 176 runs on the board at the end of the first innings. 

New Zealand pull off thrilling win as India put on poor display

As far as India’s chase is concerned, the team got off to a poor start with the bat as they lost Ishan Kishan in the second over, with the southpaw perishing for just 4 runs. Rahul Tripathi, who came in at Number 3, joined hands with Gill with the hope to lift the team from the initial hiccup, in vain as both batters returned in quick succession leaving India reeling at 15/3. Skipper Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav joined hands and kept the scoreboard ticking, keeping the Indian team in the race putting on a 50-run partnership for the 4th wicket. 

Much to the dolefulness of the fans, Ish Sodhi removed Suryakumar in the 12th over when the batter was 3 runs away from reaching the 50-run mark, with India crawling at 83/4. With Pandya following the right-handed batter in the very next over, the Men in Blue were left clueless and the match was in the hands of Washington Sundar and Deepak Hooda.

India required 67 runs off the last 5 overs and it remained to be seen if the team would clinch the win, given Hooda made his way back in the 16th over after gathering just 10 runs to his name. It was the Kiwis who won the game by 21 runs despite a fightback from Sundar and took an early lead in the series, giving a perfect reply to team India after losing the ODIs.

Here's how fans have reacted to the thrilling contest between India and New Zealand at Ranchi:

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