"Gave New Zealand a taste of their own medicine" - Dinesh Karthik on India's dominant 168-run win in 3rd T20I

Veteran keeper-batter Dinesh Karthik reserved high praise for Team India following the side's thumping 168-run win in the T20I series decider in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, February 1.

Karthik noted that New Zealand bowlers had put India on the back foot by picking up early wickets in the T20I series opener. He highlighted that the Men in Blue gave the Kiwis a taste of their own medicine with their inspired bowling performance in the third and final fixture.

Speaking to Cricbuzz after the game, Karthik explained:

"India gave New Zealand a taste of their own medicine because in the first T20I, they took three wickets in the powerplay and literally broke our back. We gave them tenfolds there. Not only the margin by which they won, but just the kind of catches they took, they put on a show out there."

Karthik opined that India were clinical with both the bat and the ball during the encounter. He also mentioned that the side's fielding was top notch, pointing out the brilliant catches Suryakumar Yadav took.

The 37-year-old suggested that the team management would be really satisfied with the Hardik Pandya-led side's overall performance in the series.

On this, he said:

"The batting scorecard was probably the best batting scorecard into how a team should play in a T20. The bowling scorecard, I think, just doesn't get any better, getting a team all out for 66. The fact that they held on to some phenomenal catches, especially Suryakumar Yadav, who held on to some blinders.

"I don't think Rahul Dravid and Hardik Pandya could have expected anything more from this team. A thoroughly brilliant performance."

Notably, Hardik Pandya and Co. registered an imposing 234-run total at the Narendra Modi Stadium thanks to Shubman Gill's scintillating unbeaten knock of 126. Rahul Tripathi and Hardik Pandya also chipped in with valuable cameos, scoring 44 and 30 runs, respectively.

New Zealand failed to put up a strong fight during the run chase. The Indian pacers did a fantastic job as they bundled out the opposition for a paltry score of 66. Pandya bagged four scalps, while Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik and Shivam Mavi each picked up two wickets.

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"This was a perfect game of T20 cricket" - Dinesh Karthik on India's brilliant victory

Dinesh Karthik further stated that according to him, India's win in the third T20I was one of the strongest performances by an international team in a bilateral series.

He explained that it was a perfect T20 match for the home team, given that they were able to win the game quite comprehensively. Karthik said:

"This is arguably one of the strongest performances any international side must have put in a bilateral series. The scores say it, and you do get the feeling that it was a perfect batting performance and a perfect bowing performance. For me, this was a perfect game of T20 cricket."

New Zealand finished their tour of India with just a solitary win to their name. The side were expected to bounce back after their embarrassing 3-0 loss in the ODI series. However, they weren't able to live up to expectations, losing the T20I series 1-2 as well.