Hard lengths bowled straight were difficult to hit, and the odd ball turned for Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell. New Zealand kept picking up wickets regularly, but Gill kept taking the heat off, scoring 19 off 8, 17 off 12, 12 off 8 and 18 off 10 immediately after the first four dismissals. New Zealand conceded just 93 runs in 13 overs from the 35th to the 47th, but then Gill launched his biggest assault, scoring 39 off his last 12 balls.
After winning the toss, Rohit once again took on the challenge of scoring an above-par total to defend under lights. He and Gill got India off to a quick start, but New Zealand could have been tighter. India didn’t run a single run between wickets in the first six overs yet scored 35. There were some good balls, but enough boundary balls to get India the start.
After Santner bowled two overs for just two runs, Rohit felt the need to take the bowling on, and skied an intended hit down the ground. Soon, the first ball that turned in the match went past Virat Kohli’s bat to hit the top of off. Santner had brough New Zealand back into the match.
Gill, though, looked sublime. His back-foot punch, his extra-cover drive and his dismissive pulls were all on display. In a welcome departure from the way India play in such situations, Gill tried to take spin down immediately. His first attempt resulted in an outside edge off a non-turning Bracewell offbreak, but Tom Latham dropped the catch. Gill didn’t back down. In the same over, he slog-swept a six to get to 52 off 52.
Lockie Ferguson came back to get Ishan Kishan out, following which Gill and Suryakumar Yadav looked threatening in a 65-run stand in 53 balls. A timely breakthrough boosted New Zealand when Suryakumar chipped Daryl Mitchell straight to cover.
Gill got to 99 with a six, and reached his hundred next ball, bringing up the landmark off 86 balls, moments after Suryakumar’s dismissal. Four down, India couldn’t quite capitalise in the overs just before 40th, when the extra fielder is allowed outside the circle. New Zealand, too, gave the batters little to hit. In the 40th over, Santner bowled Hardik Pandya with the commentators questioning on air if the ball had disturbed the bail or if it was Latham’s glove. The third umpire ruled in favour of the bowler, and India 249 for 5 in the 40th over.
In the death overs, New Zealand proved difficult to hit. They even took the wickets of Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur, which meant Gill had to delay his charge. With three overs remaining, though. Gill stopped waiting for hittable balls. Blair Tickner was taken for two sixes in the 48th, and a hat-trick of sixes off Ferguson in the 49th brought up the double.
By the time Glenn Phillips produced a special catch to get rid of Gill, he had hit 19 fours and nine sixes to set a challenging target for New Zealand, who were left hoping for dew and a quickening of the pitch under lights.
Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo