For the first time in history! Indian bowlers create unwanted record as New Zealand run riot

Glenn Phillips runs past Nitish Kumar Reddy during the T20 cricket international between New Zealand and India in Christchurch, New Zealand. For the first time in men’s T20I cricket, five Indian bowlers conceded 40 or more runs in an innings as New Zealand posted 225/8 in the first T20I in Christchurch on Thursday. The home side took advantage of India’s struggles with the ball, with Finn Allen scoring 45 off 24 balls and Glenn Phillips remaining unbeaten on 82 off 40.The feat has occurred a total of 13 times in men’s T20Is, but this was the first instance involving five Indian bowlers in the same innings. Bhuvneshwar Kumar conceded 49 runs in four overs, Arshdeep Singh made 45, Mayank Yadav 40, Axar Patel 51 and Nitish Reddy 40.New Zealand’s total was joint highest against India in T20Is and highest at home.With Jasprit Bumrah not part of the squad, the Indian attack struggled to contain the hosts despite the early bid. The New Zealand openers dealt with the movement before taking on the bowlers, with Tim Seifert scoring 24 off 17 balls.Bhuvneshwar, playing his first international match in almost four years, started with a decent first over. However, Seifert hit him for two fours and a six over long-on in his next over, costing India 17 runs.Allen then bowled Arshdeep in the following over, who also went for 17 runs, giving New Zealand momentum in the powerplay. The openers have been particularly effective in finding the offside boundaries.Mayank was brought into the attack during the powerplay and gave India the breakthrough when Seifert was caught off the last ball of the fifth over.Axar got the final over, but the left-handed shot awarded two sixes. Allen cleared long on before Daryl Mitchell stepped up to send the ball over the long-on boundary. New Zealand reached 65/1 in the first six overs.Arshdeep dismissed Mitchell in his second spell but Bhuvneshwar continued to fight. His third over cost 14 runs before he was given the responsibility of bowling the final over, which also cost 14. He finished with figures of 0/49 in four overs.Phillips remained unbeaten and ended the inning by hitting a switch over the cover. Bevon Jacobs also impressed with 31 off 16 balls, including a first-ball six down the ground from Arshdeep.New Zealand scored 67 runs in the last five overs to pass the 200-run mark, putting the Indian bowling attack under pressure throughout the innings.