Watch: Kristian Clarke's hilarious misfielding gives Abhishek Sharma successive fours in IND vs NZ 1st T20I

After a historic ODI series victory, New Zealand turns its focus to T20 World Cup 2026preparation through the five-match T20 series against India, as the opening fixture took place at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. It gives the players and the support staff enough time to enhance their skills ahead of the world event.

The first lack of confidence and weakness appeared in the fielding performance as Kristian Clarke misfielded three successive boundaries of Abhishek Sharma at the boundary line, as he misread the spin of the delivery after it landed on the grass and spun on the other side of Clarke’s momentum.

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It started on the first ball of the eighth over from Glen Phillips when Abhishek stepped out of his crease and smashed the ball into a deep cover, where the fielder did not expect the ball to turn that much as the batter sliced it with power. On the very next delivery, the same fielder had no chance of stopping the ball as it raced away to the fence.

Kristian Clarke's misfielding gives Abhishek Sharma three fours 

The third delivery was advanced around the track by the southpaw. It was another hilarious performance from Clark, who fumbled the ball again. Abhishek got closer to the pitch of the bat and lofted it over the cover, and again, what should have been an easy stop by the fielder turned out to be a boundary as the ball turned at the very last moment.

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That helped Abhishek to complete his 7th half-century in the shortest format in just 22 deliveries as he ended with 84 runs in just 35 balls at a strike rate of 240, thanks to his five boundaries and 86, along with a 99-run third-wicket partnership with captain Surya Kumar Yadav.

It wasn’t a great bowling or fielding performance from the visitors as Mitchell Sandner won the toss and decided to bat first on a surface which he called a high-scoring one, with due expected to come later in the evening.

Brief Scores: India 238/7 (Abhishek Sharma 84, Rinku Singh 44*, Jacob Duffy 2/27) vs New Zealand.