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India sweep T20 series against New Zealand to kick off Dravid era

 

India won their third and final Twenty20 International by 73 runs against New Zealand in Kolkata on Sunday as head coach Rahul Dravid started his tenure with a 3-0 series sweep.

At Eden Gardens Dead Rubber, hosts Rohit Sharma made 56 off 31 balls to strengthen the hosts 184-7.

Martin Guptill scored 51, but in the recent T20 World Cup, runners-up New Zealand were bowled out for 111 in the 16th over.

"It's a good start," said Dravid, the official broadcaster who coached Robi Shastri after the World Cup.

But we have to be realistic about this victory and keep our feet on the ground.

"It's really nice to see some young boys coming."

Batting first, India scored 69 in the first six overs and a strong 50 in the last five overs after the mid-innings disaster.

After the resignation of Virat Kohli after the World Cup and taking over as India's 20-over captain, Rohit teamed up with Ishan Kishan (29) to give India a flying start.

Mitchell Santner (3-26) dismissed Kisan and Suryakumar Yadav in the same over and then Ish Sodhi gave some relief to the spectators with a sharp return catch in the hands of Rohit.

Deepak Chahar's 21 off eight balls in the last five overs helped India get off to a fast start.

When they came back to save the total, spinner Akshar Patel (3-9) pushed New Zealand in the same over, removing Daryl Mitchell and Mark Chapman

Guptill, however, refused to stop, scoring 50 off 33 balls to keep New Zealand ahead.

The openers hit four sixes and scored 51 for 69 in the first 10 overs.

But when Yuzbendra Chahal Guptill was removed in the 11th over, the game went to India.

The teams will now face each other in a two-Test series starting in Kanpur on Thursday.

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