New Zealand came out all guns blazing after losing the toss and batting first on a flat deck in Raipur. The Kiwis meant business from the word go and had momentum throughout despite losing wickets at times. The openers got starts courtesy of Devon Conway and Tim Seifert and then Tim Seifert as well. Rachin Ravindra was magnificent for his 44 off 26 balls and Mitchell Santner with his unbeaten 47 off 27 balls took the score past the 200-run mark.
It was a mixed day for the Indian bowlers with Kuldeep Yadav leading the way with a couple of wickets finishing with 2/35 in 4 overs. Varun Chakaravarthy alongside the rest of the bowlers picked up one wicket apiece as India made sure New Zealand don’t get to 230-240 which was possible at one stage. But New Zealand will be the happier side at the interval.
New Zealand get off to a rollicking start in powerplay despite losing 2 wickets.Â
Put into bat first, Devon Conway and Tim Seifert opened the batting for New Zealand while Arshdeep Singh had ball in hand for India. Conway got off the mark with a boundary through the point region and followed that up with another boundary through deep backward point region. Conway then went big as he shimmied down the track and sliced it away over deep backward point for the maximum and then hit between cover and mid-off for a boundary as 18 came off the first over.
Hardik Pandya took the new ball from the other end as Seifert shuffled across and ramped it over short fine leg fielder and away to the deep fine leg fence for a boundary. Arshdeep continued as Seifert took him down and muscled it over mid-on for a boundary. The short ball was dealt with as Seifert rocked back and pulled it to deep square leg for a boundary. Seifert again made room and drilled it through covers and mid-off for a boundary. Seifert pulled Arshdeep to the deep fine leg fence for a boundary as another expensive over came to an end.
Harshit Rana came out to bat next and he gave India the much-needed breakthrough as he removed Conway for 19 off 9 balls with 3 fours and a six to his name as the miscue was taken by Hardik after a little bit of a juggle. Rachin Ravindra came out to bat next as Harshit bowled a wicket maiden over. Varun Chakaravarthy came into the attack next. He struck straightaway as he removed Seifert for 24 off 13 balls with 5 fours to his name as the miscue was taken by Ishan Kishan inside the circle.
Glenn Phillips came out to bat next and got off the mark as well. Varun completed a successful over. Rana continued and bowled the final over of powerplay. Ravindra took on Rana as he smoked it over the bowler’s head for a maximum. The 50 came up for New Zealand in 5.2 overs. Ravindra again took on the bowler by throwing his hands at it and slapped it to the left of cover point for a boundary. Ravindra was not done yet as he cleared his front leg and heaved over deep midwicket for the maximum. At the end of an action-packed powerplay,
New Zealand were 64/2 in 6 overs with Ravindra on 19* off 12 balls while Phillips was with him on 1* off 2 balls.
India chipped away at the wickets even though New Zealand maintained a healthy run rate.Â
Kuldeep Yadav came into the attack post the powerplay and bowled a good solid first over. Varun changed ends as Ravindra got down on one knee and swung it hard over deep midwicket for the maximum. Ravindra went big again as he went down on one knee and swung it away to deep midwicket for the maximum as Ravindra completed 2000 T20I runs. Kuldeep continued as Phillips took him on by smashing it over the bowler’s head for a maximum and then got the thick outside edge to the third man fence as the 50-run stand came up between the two players.
Phillips hit another boundary off Kuldeep by slapping it over deep point for a boundary. But Kuldeep had the last laugh as he removed Phillips for 19 off 13 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name as Hardik took another catch. Daryl Mitchell came out to bat next and got off the mark soon. Abhishek Sharma came into the attack next. The 100 came up for New Zealand in 9.1 overs. Mitchell drove Abhishek straight down the ground to long-on for a boundary and followed that up with an action replay that went to the fence.
New Zealand were 111/3 in 10 overs when the players paused for the Drinks Break. Varun continued after the break as Ravindra survived a stumping check as the foot was inside the crease. Varun was feeling the heat as Ravindra slapped it one-handed back over the umpire’s head for a boundary. Mitchell survived another LBW call as the impact was outside off-stump and India lost a review.
Shivam Dube came into the attack next. Mitchell first him in front of square for a boundary as the fielder could not cut it off. But Dube hit back as Mitchell departed for 18 off 11 balls with 3 fours to his name as the ball was taken at long-on. Mark Chapman came out to bat next. He got off the mark soon. Kuldeep came back into the attack. He got rid of Ravindra for 44 off 26 balls with 2 fours and 4 sixes to his name as the batter miscued it to the third man region where Arshdeep took a good catch. Mitchell Santner came out to bat next as captain of the side.
He got off the mark soon. Varun came back into the attack and was greeted with a boundary as he worked it past short fine leg for a boundary. Kuldeep continued as Santner drilled it hard down the ground past long-on for a boundary. New Zealand brought up their 150 and finished with 151/5 in 15 overs with Santner unbeaten on 17 off 11 balls while Chapman was with him on 7* off 7 balls.
Mitchell Santner provides the late flourish to take New Zealand past the 200-run mark.Â
Arshdeep Singh returned to the bowling crease and bowled a decent over under pressure. Hardik Pandya came back into the attack and he removed Chapman with a slower ball which he miscued it to Abhishek Sharma at long-on as he fell for 10 off 13 balls. Zakary Foulkes came out to bat next. Rana came back and Santner smashed it down the ground for the maximum over long-on. Santner was not done yet as he hit him for two consecutive boundaries past deep midwicket and through the vacant point region.
Hardik continued as Foulkes smashed him down the ground to long-on for a boundary. Santner then cleared his front leg and flat batted it over covers for a boundary. Santner was not done yet as he flicked it away past short fine leg for a boundary. Arshdeep Singh had ball in hand for the final over and gifted 4 byes to the batting side. Foulkes then took matter into his own hands as he smashed Arshdeep off a low full toss over long leg for the maximum. The 200 came up for New Zealand in 19.5 overs.
Foulkes hit the last ball of the innings by flicking it over square leg for a boundary to the backward square leg region. 17 runs came off the final over as New Zealand finished with 208/6 in 20 overs. Santner remained unbeaten on 47 off 27 balls with 6 fours and one six to his name while Foulkes remained unbeaten on 15 off 8 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name. 12 extras given by the fielding side.
It was a mixed day for India with the ball. Kuldeep Yadav was the pick of the bowlers with 2/35 in 4 overs. Varun Chakaravarthy finished with 1/35 in 4 overs. Hardik Pandya finished with 1/25 in 3 overs. Harshit Rana finished with 1/35 in 3 overs. Shivam Dube bowled an over for 7 runs and picked up a wicket. Abhishek Sharma bowled an over for 12 runs while Arshdeep Singh bowled 4 overs for 53 runs and had an off day tonight. This meant India needed a mammoth 209 to win off 20 overs to take a 2-0 lead in the 5-match series.
Who’s Winning, India or New Zealand?Â
New Zealand have got the runs on the board on a flat deck but it’s a huge score on the board. 208 is huge irrespective of the pitch conditions on offer. The dew is there no doubt but India has to bat extremely well to overhaul this target. It’s advantage New Zealand in the interval and if the Kiwis get early wickets they can win this match by a significant margin and level the series 1-1.
Let’s see how the chase unfolds for all of us from this position.
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