Abhishek Sharma ended his run of seven T20I innings without a half-century

Nagpur (India) (AFP) - Opener Abhishek Sharma struck 84 off 35 balls to set up a convincing 48-run win for India in the first of five T20 internationals against New Zealand on Wednesday.

Abhishek smashed eight sixes to get India off to a flying start before a late unbeaten cameo of 44 by Rinku Singh helped the hosts reach 238-7 after being invited to bat first in Nagpur.

New Zealand could only muster 190-7 in response as regular wickets helped India take a 1-0 lead in the warm-up series ahead of the T20 World Cup starting February 7 in India and Sri Lanka.

“It’s not just how he bats in the games, but the way he prepares himself, the way he carries himself – I think all those things, small, small things, it reflects on the ground,” said India captain Suryakumar Yadav of Abhishek.

“And he is enjoying the fruits of that.”

Glenn Phillips hit a valiant 78 off 40 balls and briefly threatened a fightback in his 79-run partnership with Mark Chapman, who made 39.

But Phillips’ exit in the 14th over off left-arm spinner Axar Patel ended New Zealand’s hopes despite a sloppy fielding display by the hosts.

Spinner Varun Chakravarthy took two key wickets including Tim Robinson, for 21, and Chapman.

Shivam Dube also took two wickets in two balls with his medium pace in the final over.

Abhishek was in fine flow despite India losing two early wickets – his fellow opener Sanju Samson for 10 and Ishan Kishan, back in the side for the first time since 2023, for eight.

Suryakumar put on 99 runs for the third wicket with Abhishek, making a 22-ball 32.

Suryakumar, 35, started slowly but gained some momentum as he attempts to end his recent slump in form ahead of the World Cup.

Suryakumar, formerly the ICC’s top-ranked T20I batsman, has failed to score a fifty in his 23 innings in the format dating back to October 2024.

He holed out off the left-arm spin of his opposite number Mitchell Santner.

Abhishek kept up the charge and raced to his fifty in 22 balls, but finally fell to Ish Sodhi after he mistimed a hit to long-on.

India lost a couple more quick wickets and the run-scoring dipped before Rinku cracked three sixes and four fours in his 20-ball knock to finish with a flourish.

“India is a very good team at home,” said Santner. “We knew that. Their record the last two years is outstanding. And, yeah, it was a good game for us.”

The second match is on Friday in Raipur.