India got back to winning ways against New Zealand with a five-wicket win with two balls to spare at Sawai Mansingh stadium in Jaipur. It was a game that went right down to the wire and Rishabh Pant held his nerves to finish the match with a boundary against part-time pacer Daryl Mitchell. At one point, it looked like India will cruise towards the 165-run target but few wickets and dot balls led to a nail-biting affair in Jaipur. With the win, the partnership between new head coach Rahul Dravid and new T20I captain Rohit Sharma got off to an ideal start.
Rahul, Rohit start well
India got off to a good start in the run chase with a 50-run partnership off 31 deliveries. While Rahul managed to score just 15 runs from 14 balls, Rohit did the heavy lifting. It also broke the record for most fifty-plus partnership for an Indian pair in the format. They went past Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit’s score of 11 fifty-plus partnerships. Rohit carried on and shared a crucial partnership with his Mumbai Indians (MI) teammate Suryakumar. The newly-appointed T20I skipper missed his half-century by two runs. He faced 36 deliveries and hit five fours and two sixes in his 48-run knock.
Surya special
Coming in at no.3, Suryakumar played a blinder of an innings scoring 60 runs off 40 deliveries including six fours and three sixes. He was timing the ball perfectly including an impressive six off Lockie Ferguson over long leg. He kept the pressure on in the middle overs to narrow down the difference between runs and balls. He could not finish the job though and got out bowled trying to play a scoop shot off Trent Boult. It was his third half-century in the format.
Death overs drama
When Suryakumar got out, India needed 21 runs from 20 deliveries. A series of dot balls and lack of boundaries led to the Kiwis making a comeback in the game. Coming in to bat at no.5, Shreyas Iyer failed to do the job as he managed just five runs from eight deliveries. On the other end, Rishabh Pant struggled to get bat on ball or into the gap. India needed 10 runs off the last over and Venkatesh Iyer on his debut scored a boundary first ball. However, he got out off the next ball. Mitchell who was bowling his first over of the match struggled with his line and bowled two wides under pressure. Later, Pant came down the track and hit him for a boundary over mid-off to finish off the game and rule out the possibility of another super over game between the two.
Bhuvneshwar sets the tone
Earlier, Rohit won the toss and elected to bowl first. Bhuvneshwar Kumar made a statement in the first over with a booming in-swinger which left Daryl Mitchell dumfounded and short of a middle stump. The in-swing from good length created a big gap between bat and pad. New Zealand’s hero of T20 World Cup 2021 semi-final bagged his maiden golden duck in T20Is. Later, Bhuvneshwar returned to get the wicket of wicketkeeper-batter Tim Seifert in the penultimate over. After ordinary performances in the marquee event, Bhuvneshwar conceded just 24 runs from four overs and picked up two wickets.
Guptill, Chapman’s record partnership
Martin Guptill and Mark Chapman started off cautiously after the wicket of Mitchell early in the powerplay overs. While Chapman faced most of the deliveries in the first half, Guptill was playing a dormant role at the other end. The Kiwi opener broke free in the 11th over hitting Mohammed Siraj for a maximum. In the next over, Chapman too hit a six and reached his half-century from 45 deliveries. The two shared a 109-run partnership for the second wicket which is the highest for New Zealand against India in the format.
Despite Ravichandran Ashwin’s double blow in the 14th over getting Chapman out for 63 and Glenn Phillips for a three-ball duck, Guptill continued his big-hitting and reached his half-century with another six off Siraj. He got to his half-century from 31 deliveries. Guptill carried on and scored 70 off 42 deliveries before getting out to Deepak Chahar in the 18th over. New Zealand could not do much damage in the final two overs and managed to put 164/6 on the board.
