Hardik Pandya-led India defeated New Zealand by six wickets in a low-scoring thriller to level the three-T20I series on a spin-friendly Lucknow track on January 29 (Sunday). Indian batters had to toil hard in the middle to chase down a lowly target of 100 as only eight boundaries were scored in 19.5 overs. Even a batter of Suryakumar Yadav’s caliber, who scores at a strike rate of over 180, struggled in the middle. Despite his struggles, the No.4 batter managed to seal India’s win with a boundary off the penultimate delivery.
The game was all about the slow pitch that offered immense assistance to spinners. India, who bowled first, broke the backbone of New Zealand's batter led by the spin troika of Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sunday. The three Indian spinners combined for three wickets, each of them scalping one Kiwi batter, but it was Kuldeep who wowed onlookers and stunned right-handed batter Daryl Mitchell with a magical delivery.
The moment occurred on the last ball of the 10th over when Kuldeep pitched the ball way outside and got it to turn sharply and outfoxed the Kiwi batter.
Watch the video here:
The run chase of 100 got off to a slow start. Ishan Kishan played too many dot deliveries. Shubman Gill (11) hit a couple of boundaries but got out trying to pull a short ball from Michael Bracewell as he got caught at square leg by Finn Allen. In the powerplay overs, India managed to score 29/1.
Kishan's stay at the crease came to an end in the ninth over. He got run out trying to take a second run but was caught short of the crease by Glenn Phillips' throw. Kishan played 32 deliveries and managed to score just 19 runs. At halfway stage, India’s score was 49/2. The pressure got the better of Rahul Tripathi as well. Tripathi got out trying to sweep. He scored 13 runs from 18 deliveries. Suryakumar Yadav could not score in his typical fashion as well. A mix-up led to Washington Sundar's wicket as Suryakumar did not pay heed to the non-striker's call.
The boundaries dried up and even the arrival of Pandya did not have much impact on the scoring rate. In the last two overs, India needed 13 runs as the required run rate got over six runs per over for the first time in the run chase. Pandya ended the boundary drought in the penultimate over. However, off the last ball Suryakumar refused to take the second run.
In the last over, Pandya got the top edge and got a single. Suryakumar tried to play one towards third man but missed. He hit the next one back to Blair Tickner but the bowler dropped the catch. Two singles came off the next two deliveries. On the penultimate delivery, Suryakumar cleared the mid-off fielder and hit a boundary to finish off the run chase as India saved face in a low-scoring game. He remained unbeaten for 26 off 31 deliveries. On the other end, Pandya scored 15 runs from 20 balls.
