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India beat NZ on another turning track, level NZ T20 series
Skipper Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav steer the team home in another low-scoring game in Lucknow in the second match of the series
For the second game in a row, spinners dictated terms in the T20I series against New Zealand before India won with a ball to spare at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium here on Sunday.
At Ranchi, New Zealand spinners put Indian batters on the backfoot, but Indian spinners took charge on Sunday before the hosts won by six wickets with one ball to spare. The dominance of spinners was such that they bowled 30 overs. New Zealand spinners bowled 17 overs out of it.
Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav and even part-timer Deepak Hooda made things difficult for the visitors, sharing four wickets. Pacer Arshdeep Singh took two wickets in his first over to restrict the Kiwis to 99/8 after they elected to bat. It was New Zealand’s lowest score against India, after scoring 111 at the Eden Gardens in 2021.
In reply, Indian batters too struggled with the Kiwi spinners extracting sharp turn. The ball didn’t come on to the bat and the home batters too were forced to mostly take singles. India needed 13 off 12 balls in the end. A four by Hardik Pandya off Lockie Ferguson off the fifth ball of the 19th over eased the pressure and Suryakumar Yadav hit another boundary off Blair Tickner on the penultimate ball to seal victory. Yadav was unbeaten on 26 (31 b, 1x4). Skipper Hardik made 15 not out (20b, 1x4).
Shubman Gill was caught by Finn Allen off Michael Bracewell for 11 and Ishan Kishan fell for 19. Gill swept a length ball to be caught at deep square leg while Kishan was run out. India were 49/2 at the halfway mark. Rahul Tripathi (13) was then caught and Washington Sundar (10) was run out.
The Indian spinners ruled on a rank turner. Chahal bowled Finn Allen as he attempted a reverse sweep to a full delivery and missed. New Zealand batters’ struggles only got worse, against Sundar (3-0-17-1), Kuldeep Yadav (4-0-17-1) and Hooda (4-0-17-1).
Runs were hard to come by as the spinners were on target, leaving no scope for the Kiwi batters to free their arms and hit. Even the sweep shot didn’t work and the Kiwis found it hard to find the gaps. A 20-run sixth-wicket stand between skipper Mitchell Santner (19) and Bracewell (14) remained the highest for the day.
Opener Devon Conway (11) was caught by Kishan off Sundar, Philips (5) was bowled by Hooda and Mitchell (8) was cleaned up by Yadav, reducing New Zealand to 48/4. Hardik brought on Arshdeep only in the 18th over and he responded with two wickets in that over, removing Ish Sodhi (1) and Lockie Ferguson (0).
"All of us were on our toes,” Washington Sundar said after the match. "I am sure everyone watching would have been on their toes. This has been very-very exciting. Two-three games like this out of every 10-11 games would be amazing. It was very important for Surya to stay till the end that's why I sacrificed my wicket.”
