Ahmedabad (PTI): Led by Sanju Samson (89), defending champions India put on a show to post a massive 255 for five in the T20 World Cup final against New Zealand here on Sunday.
The New Zealand bowlers were all at sea after inviting India to bat in the winners-take-all contest with Samson and Abhishek Sharma (52) going berserk from the word go, lashing the ground with sixes and fours.
They raised a quick-fire 98-run stand in just 7.1 overs to provide a great platform to the following batters. Ishan Kishan carried forward the good work with a 25-ball 54.
Batting with sheer authority and least respect for the Kiwi bowlers, India crossed the 200-run mark in 15 overs.
However, New Zealand succeeded in putting the brake on the run flow by dismissing Samson, Kishan and skipper Suryakumar Yadav (0) in a space of six balls. Pacer James Neesham took all three wickets in the 16th over to somehow stop the game from slipping away.
Hardik Pandya (18) did not last long but Shivam Dube (26 not out) provided a flourishing finish, creaming off 24 runs in the final over from Neesham.
India managed 52 in last five overs, thanks to Dube's fiery knock. It was the highest ever total in a final of T20 World Cup.
Brief Scores:
India: 255 for 5 in 20 overs. (Sanju Samson 89, Ishan Kishan 54, Abhishek Sharma 52; James Neesham 3/46).
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Mumbai (PTI): The rupee plummeted 46 paise to near its all-time intra-day low of 92.28 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday as global crude oil prices shot up and the greenback strengthened amid the worsening situation in the Middle East.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by a staggering 25.68 per cent at USD 116.5 per barrel in futures trade as the war between US-Israel and Iran intensified.
A big surge in FII outflows and a crash at the domestic equity market in morning trade put further pressure in the local unit, forex traders said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 92.22 against the US dollar before declining further to 92.28, down 46 paise from its previous close. The rupee had hit an all-time intra-day low of 92.35 on March 4.
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The rupee depreciated 18 paise against the US dollar on Friday to close at 91.82 against the American currency.
"The rupee will remain vulnerable to the rising oil prices which have risen by more than 28 per cent since the last closure on Friday. Asian currencies were also lower on Monday," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.
Rupee might touch 93.00 if oil remains above USD 100 in the coming trading sessions, he added.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.66 per cent higher at 99.64.
On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex crashed 2,345.89 points to 76,573.01 in early trade, while Nifty tumbled 708.75 points to 23,741.70.
Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 6,030.38 crore on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, India's forex reserves jumped USD 4.885 billion to an all-time high of USD 728.494 billion during the week ended February 27, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.
