In their Champions Trophy Group A match on Sunday, New Zealand held India to 249/9 thanks to a well-played and crucial fifty from Shreyas Iyer under duress. On a slow surface in Dubai, the Kiwis, led by pacer Matt Henry, dominated India. The lone bright spot was Iyer, who struck 79 off 98 balls and formed a good 98-run partnership with Axar Patel (42 off 61 balls), helping India restore order to their batting order after their top order left in short succession. Later, India survived a top-order collapse because of a fast-paced performance from Hardik Pandya (45 off 45).
Iyer was in a slightly different circumstance because he had been cushioned by runs from the top three batters in the previous several games. In those games, it had allowed him to bat with a certain amount of freedom. He had to build the innings from the beginning in this situation, but he did it flawlessly, hitting 50 off 75 balls with a single off Rachin Ravindra.
Iyer occasionally displayed his natural flair by lofting pacer Will O'Rourke for a six-over long-on, while Axar provided him with good company on a sluggish surface. Iyer had the opportunity to score a century, but Young caught up a weak pull during O'Rourke's delivery within the covers.
Did Iyer bat with Rohit's bat?
However, fans' eyes saw a fairly intriguing mark on Iyer's mark. Iyer was using a bat bearing the Rohit Sharma CEAT logo, which read "HITMAN" on top. This made some wonder if he was using Rohit's bat to play the game agianst New Zealand. Additionally, it captured the interest of the spectators and gave the game a fascinating new dimension.
Shreyas Iyer, who came in at number four, stabilized the innings with a crucial half-century despite the top-order collapse. However, Will O'Rourke eventually got rid of him in the 37th over, preventing him from reaching a triple-figure score.
India concluded their innings with 249 runs at a cost of 9 wickets in their 50 overs. India achieved a respectable score under challenging circumstances because of some late heroics from Hardik Pandya with the bat.