Munro masters India as Black Caps draw level in Rajkot

The Black Caps were beaten comfortably in Delhi on Wednesday, but pulled level at 1-1 after Munro became the first batsman to register two T20 international hundreds in a calendar year.

Dropped on 45 and 79, Munro shared 105 with Martin Guptill for the first wicket and cleared the ropes on seven occasions to help New Zealand pile up 196-2 after electing to bat first.

Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni hit 65 and 49 respectively in reply, but the latter's best work came with India well behind the required run-rate. Trent Boult (4-34) returned the most eye-catching figures for the tourists, but Ish Sodhi and Adam Milne were similarly impressive and Munro completed a superb performance with a wicket of his own.

The three-match series will now be decided in Thiruvananthapuram next Tuesday.

New Zealand made a relatively sedate start before Guptill and Munro lifted the tempo with a flurry of boundaries.

Having moved to 50 in fortuitous fashion, when Shreyas Iyer palmed the ball over the boundary at long-on, Munro continued to swing away merrily after Guptill had holed out off Yuzvendra Chahal.

Debutant Mohammed Siraj endured a painful introduction to international cricket as the runs flowed, conceding 53 runs in four overs, although he did at least claim the wicket of Kane Williamson.

When Boult struck twice in the second over of India's reply, which was briefly delayed by a floodlight failure, the hosts were up against it.

Kohli looked a class apart, but the required rate rose sharply after Munro and Sodhi had struck in quick succession to remove Iyer (23) and Hardik Pandya (1).