New Zealand went down once again this time in Raipur in what turned out to be another one-sided contest between the two sides in this series. The first game in Nagpur was high scoring but one-side and so was the second game and New Zealand were at the receiving end of it. India dominated New Zealand to win by 7 wickets and take a 2-0 lead in the series as they are doing most of the things right. New Zealand lacked in areas which came back to bite them and we will list them out for you now.
Inability to convert starts into a significant score pegs New Zealand back
New Zealand were put into bat by India on a placid track with dew beginning to take effect from the start. New Zealand changed their approach and came out all guns firing against the Indian attack. Devon Conway and Tim Seifert were quick off the blocks and looked good but got out after getting a start. Glenn Phillips got a start but could not kick on either. Rachin Ravindra played well and made a significant score of 44 off 26 balls as his innings showed some direction to the team.
Daryl Mitchell looked fluent while he was there but fell relatively cheaply while Mark Chapman struggled in his stay at the crease. It was due to Mitchell Santner’s brilliance in the 19th and 20th over as he made an unbeaten 47 off 27 balls that took the score beyond 200. Foulkes too played a cameo. But had those starts at the top being converted into a significant score, then the Kiwis might have ended up with more than what they have gone now. Players got in and got out which made it tougher for the Kiwis to accelerate at the right time.
Looking ahead, New Zealand would want to get better at this aspect and convert the starts into something significant. The feeling was that 208 was a good score but not winning on that track. The Black Caps will look to bat more aggressively and put in a good display with the bat. Batting is still fine, but bowling is an issue for the Kiwis. That’s why pressure on the batters to score more runs.
Inability to stop Ishan Kishan-Suryakumar Yadav show frustrates New Zealand
Chasing a huge score of 209 for the win, India were rocked early as they lost Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma to leave the Men in Blue at 6/2 in 1.1 overs and New Zealand were over the moon at this stage. But what followed was something New Zealand were not prepared. Yes, there was a tactical error which we will come to later on, had Zakary Foulkes enter the bowling crease and Kishan smashed him for 24 runs to tilt the scales in India’s favour.
After this over, India just did not look back and just cruised through the chase. Ishan Kishan was the star of the show with his 76 off 32 balls as he dominated the powerplay and partnership with Surya. Surya stayed put at one end for his first 10 balls but Ishan was unstoppable taking the attack to the opposition. Surya then took on the returning Foulkes and smashed him for 25 runs to get into the mojo did the Indian captain. The damage that these two did scoring 122 runs in 49 balls really stunned the Kiwis.
The lines and lengths were awry for the Kiwis and they simply did not have a plan to tackle Ishan Kishan in particular. It’s too early to say, but New Zealand needs to have better plans and methods to do well in the next game. They need to think out of the box and come up with better strategies to counter this heavy batting line-up of India. The series will be on the line down 0-2 after 2 games and so New Zealand has to play really well to bounce back from this defeat.
Mitchell Santner’s tactical errors costs New Zealand big timeÂ
Mitchell Santner had a good first innings when he made a useful 47 with the bat off 27 balls. He stayed unbeaten in the end and took the score of New Zealand beyond 200. But he made glaring errors in the field and that really cost New Zealand and helped India in the long run. As a captain, you have to think on your feet in this shortest format of the game and this is where maybe with some rigidness he got things wrong.
New Zealand started well as both their opening bowlers Matt Henry and Jacob Duffy picked up one wicket each in the opening two overs of the chase as Henry removed Samson while Duffy removed Abhishek Sharma to reduced the hosts to 6/2 in 1.1 overs. India were around 8/2 in 2 overs. Any sensible captain would have gone in with Henry continuing for a second spell. But Santner had other ideas. He introduced Zakary Foulkes into the attack and he was all over the place going for 24 runs in the over which changed the momentum of the game.
India got back their self belief from this position and never looked back smashing New Zealand to all parts and Santner seemed to have totally lost the plot completely. He just panicked like most people will do in this position as his bowling was taken to the cleaners going for 27 in 2 overs. But his captaincy at best was average and that one decision changed the complexion of the game. He did not rotate the bowlers well enough compared to Surya from India. Going ahead, we expect better captaincy from Santner if New Zealand are to stay alive in this 5-match T20I series.
What Lies Ahead
So, India are 2-0 up in the 5-match series as the bandwagon moves to Guwahati in the state of Assam for the third T20I of the series to be played there. India will be hoping to seal the series in Guwahati only and then mark the last two matches as preparations for the big event. New Zealand will be desperate to keep the series alive but can they against this power packed Indian line-up?
Let’s see how this third T20I in Guwahati pans out for both teams going forward later tonight.
Also Read:Â IND vs NZ: Ishan Kishan & Suryakumar Yadav Powers India To 2-0 Lead With Impressive Win