Adam Milne was the star of the show as he bowled excellent lines and lengths to not give anything away. Adam Milne‘s 4/19 helped New Zealand keep India’s strong batting to under 200 runs. He was ably supported by his fellow pacers who bowled really well. For India, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer scored counter-attacking fifties while Naman Dhir and Nitish Kumar Reddy chipped in. 191/8 is a good score, but not enough is what we feel at the break.
Adam Milne’s double strike removes the Indian openers in an entertaining power play
Put into bat first, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma came out to open the batting for India while Jacob Duffy had the new ball in hand for New Zealand. Duffy bowled a miserly tight first over. Adam Milne had the ball in hand from the other end. He drew the first blood for New Zealand as he dismissed Abhishek for 1 off 2 balls, with Mitchell taking the catch towards mid-on. Ishan Kishan came out to bat next as another good over came to an end.
Duffy continued as Kishan broke the shackles as he threw the hands at it and sent the ball over deep point for the maximum. Ishan was in the zone as he got inside the line and whipped it away through deep fine leg for a boundary. Milne continued as he dismissed Samson who struggled out there and fell for 4 off 10 balls as Bracewell took a brilliant catch running back from cover.
Captain Shreyas Iyer came out to bat next and got off the mark straightaway. Milne conceded a wide but bowled another brilliant over. Nathan Smith came into the attack next as Shreyas welcomed him with a pick-up shot and flicked it over deep square leg for the maximum as the ball was on the pads. Ishan clobbered the ball down the ground to smoke it over the bowler’s head for a boundary. Iyer hit another boundary away as leaned into the drive with a drive past Bracewell for a boundary.
Blair Tickner came into the attack to bowl the last over of the powerplay. Ishan welcomed him with a maximum as he cut the ball over deep backward point for a maximum. Kishan then got down on one knee and helped it on its way past short fine leg for a boundary. The 50 came up for India in 5.5 overs. At the end of the powerplay, India were 50/2 with Ishan unbeaten on 30 off 17 balls while Shreyas was unbeaten on 13 off 7 balls. We now entered the middle phase of the game.
Ishan Kishan & Shreyas Iyer’s half-century leads India’s fightback; but both depart as New Zealand chip away at the wickets in the middle phase of the gameÂ
Captain Mitchell Santner came into the attack post the power play. Allen almost pulled off a stunner at long-on, but while flicking it back, his foot landed on the ropes as the six was signalled by the TV umpire. Santner came back and kept it down to singles. Michael Bracewell came into the attack next. Shreyas took on Bracewell as he rocked back and pulled it over deep midwicket for the maximum. The bowler conceded a wide on the next ball. The 50-run stand came up between the two players. Bracewell completed his over.
Santner continued as Ishan used his wrists with a whip between long-on and deep midwicket for the boundary. Santner bowled another wide before Ishan took him on as he cleared his front leg and thumped it over deep midwicket for the maximum. He reached his fifty off 28 balls. Bracewell continued as Shreyas took him on and got to the pitch of the ball to launch it over long-on for the maximum. Iyer used his wrists to flick it through midwicket and long-on for a boundary.
Shreyas took on Bracewell and launched it over wide long-off for the maximum. The 100 came up for India in 9.3 overs. Shreyas miscued a ball in the air as Blair Tickner settled underneath it to drop the catch and make a meal out of it. Ishan took on Bracewell and stepped down the track to thump it over long-on for the maximum and then dragged it into the deep midwicket region for a boundary as 27 came off the over. India were 111/2 in 10 overs at the halfway stage of the game when we paused for a drinks break.
Blair Tickner came back into the attack after the break as he broke the threatening stand, removing Ishan for 61 off 32 balls with 5 fours and 5 sixes to his name as he miscued it to Smith in the deep, who made no mistake. Tilak Varma came out to bat next, and he got off the mark as soon as another good over came to an end. Nathan Smith returned to the attack as Shreyas hit the high full toss aimed at the gully region, and flicked it past short fine leg for a boundary. He reached his fifty in just 22 balls. His 11th T20I fifty. Smith bowled a wide.
He gave New Zealand the breakthrough as Shreyas departed for 50 off 23 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes to his name, as Shreyas was hurried by pace and he pulled it up in the air and was taken by the keeper, Seifert. Naman Dhir came out to bat next. Smith bowled a successful over. Santner continued and bowled a decent over. Smith continued and felt he had gotten rid of Tilak Varma, but the bowler overstepped, and a free hit was called in. The free hit yielded only a single. Nathan got rid of Tilak in the end as he dismissed him for 6 off 8 balls as the miscue was taken by the bowler.
Nitish Kumar Reddy came out to bat next. He got off the mark soon. Santner continued to bowl his final over and the 15th of the innings. Naman got welcomed for a boundary for India as he went inside out with a lofted drive over extra cover for a boundary. India stumbled to 144/5 in 15 overs with Naman unbeaten on 13 off 11 balls alongside Nitish Kumar Reddy unbeaten on 3 off 5 balls. We now enter the death overs phase of the innings.
A flurry of wickets and late-order hitting takes India to 191/8 in 20 overs.Â
Blair Tickner came back into the wicket for the 16th over. Naman Dhir was given a lifeline as Adam Milne dropped the catch at deep cover, as this was the 15th dropped catch of the series by New Zealand. Naman added salt to the wounds as he drove the ball past extra cover for a boundary. Adam Milne came back into the attack now as Reddy swiped it away past long-on for a boundary past Mitchell. Naman then stayed leg side of the ball and threw his hands at that and sliced it past backward point for a boundary.
Jacob Duffy came back into the attack as Nitish on the front foot and heaved it away over Mitchell at wide long-on for the maximum. Naman stood tall and waited for it and showed hand-eye coordination to slap it over extra cover for a boundary. Blair Tickner came to bowl the 19th over. Naman took him on and whipped the ball on the pads to deep backward square leg for the maximum. Tickner had his revenge as he dismissed Naman for 33 off 23 balls with 4 fours and one six to his name as Bracewell took a good diving catch.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar came out to bat next and got off the mark next as Reddy got an outside edge and away to the third-man fence for a useful boundary. Adam Milne came to bowl the final over of the innings. He dismissed Nitish for 22 off 17 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name as he picked out Phillips in the deep. Prince Yadav came out to bat next. Kumar got a low full toss and flicked it between short fine leg and deep backward square leg for a boundary.
Milne got another as he dismissed Bhuvneshwar for 6 off 4 balls with one four to his name as he was holed out in the deep by Mitchell. Arshdeep Singh came out to bat next and got off the mark as India finished with a competitive 191/8 in 20 overs. Prince remained unbeaten on 0 off 1 ball while Arshdeep remained unbeaten on 1 off 1 ball. 7 extras were given by the fielding side.
Adam Milne was the pick of the bowlers for New Zealand with figures of 4/19 in 4 overs. Blair Tickner finished with 2/38 in 4 overs. Nathan Smith finished with 2/28 in 3 overs. Jacob Duffy finished with 0/27 in 3 overs. Captain Mitchell Santner finished with 0/39 in 4 overs. Michael Bracewell went for 38 runs in 2 overs. This means New Zealand needs 192 to win off 20 overs to make it 2-3 in the series.
Who’s Winning, New Zealand or India?Â
India have got the runs on the board, but we feel they are 20-30 runs short of a winning total. New Zealand will be fancying chasing 192 down and make it 2-3. India needs early wickets to make a match out of this. Expect a good game on a sporting track. But we back New Zealand to win this game and the series finishing 3-2 rather than 4-1. Let’s see how the chase pans out from here.
Also Read: NZ vs IND: 3 Reasons For India’s Embarrassing Defeat In 4th T20I.