On a used surface in Christchurch, Glenn Phillips stood tall for the second game in a row as his swashbuckling 70 off 43 balls alongside Bevon-John Jacobs‘ 56 off 40 balls helped New Zealand recover from a precarious 43/3 in 6 overs to post a competitive 180/5 in 20 overs. For India, they bowled a tad better, with Arshdeep Singh picking up 2 wickets and others chipping in there in there about. Bhuvneshwar Kumar went for plenty again. The match is interestingly poised.
Indian opening bowlers strike thrice to peg New Zealand back in the power play
Put into bat first yet again, Tim Seifert and Finn Allen came out to open the batting for New Zealand while Bhuvneshwar Kumar had the new ball in hand for India. Seifert was off and running straightaway as he gave himself room and launched it over long-off for the maximum to get off the mark. Arshdeep Singh shared the new ball from the other end. He drew first blood for India as he dismissed Seifert for 7 off 6 balls with one six to his name. Daryl Mitchell came out to bat next. He got off the mark soon.
Kumar continued as Mitchell whipped the ball over square leg for a boundary. Daryl Mitchell survived a scare at the bowler’s end as Bhuvneshwar hit the stumps but the batter was home. Bhuvneshwar struck for India and got rid of Mitchell for 6 off 5 balls with one four to his name as Tilak picked up another catch. Glenn Phillips came out to bat next. Arshdeep continued as Phillips stood tall and slapped it past covers for a boundary.
Kumar continued and delivered a wide ball. Allen took on Bhuvneshwar as he moved across to scoop it over the keeper for the maximum. Bhuvneshwar delivered another wide as Phillips picked the length early and rolled his wrists playing the pull shot past deep square leg for a boundary. Allen managed to get a triple as he hit it between midwicket and mid-on with good running between the wickets.
Prince Yadav came into the attack to bowl the final over of power play and started with a wide. Prince struck in his first over as he knocked over Allen for 16 off 14 balls with one six to his name with the yorker knocking the leg stump over. Bevon-John Jacobs came out to bat next and got off the mark straightaway. At the completion of the power play, New Zealand were in a spot of bother at 43/3 in 6 overs with Phillips unbeaten on 10 off 9 balls alongside Jacobs unbeaten on 1 off 2 balls on a slightly slower wicket. We now entered the middle phase of the game.
Glenn Phillips & Bevon-John Jacobs stabilises New Zealand in the middle overs
Naman Dhir came into the attack post the power play. He bowled a decent first over. Axar Patel came into the attack next. He bowled a tight first over. Nitish Kumar Reddy came into the attack next. Jacobs broke the shackles as he drilled it past the bowler for a boundary. Axar continued and bowled another tight over as New Zealand reached 66/3 in 10 overs at the halfway stage of the game when we all paused for the Drinks Break.
Prince Yadav returned to the bowling crease after the break. Jacobs was batting on 20* and the team score was 68/3 in the 11th over when captain Shreyas Iyer put down an absolute sitter at mid-off and this could prove to be really costly for India. Jacobs added salt to the wounds few balls later as he got his bat down in time to the yorker and the ball went away to the fine leg fence for a boundary.
Axar continued as Phillips took him on over wide long-on down the ground for the maximum. Arshdeep returned for another spell. Phillips ran well between the wickets and dived to survive a close run out call. Phillips then whacked Arshdeep over forward square leg for the maximum as the 50-run stand came up between the two batters. Nitish Kumar Reddy came back into the attack and conceded a wide. Jacobs swatted the ball away with a pull between deep midwicket and deep square leg for a boundary. The 100 came up for New Zealand in 13.4 overs.
Axar returned to bowl his final over and the 15th of the innings as Phillips took him on and thumped it over Reddy at long-on for the maximum. Axar came back well and conceded 5 singles off the next five balls as he ended his spell with miserly figures. At the completion of 15 overs, New Zealand were slightly better placed at 115/3 with Phillips unbeaten on 47 off 32 balls while Jacobs was unbeaten on 35 off 33 balls as we entered the death overs phase of the game.
Glenn Phillips stars amidst death overs madness as New Zealand finish with 180/5 in 20 overs
Bhuvneshwar Kumar came to bowl his final over as Phillips reached out to slice it away over deep backward point for a boundary. The bowler overstepped. But the free hit yielded a single. Kumar conceded a wide while Phillips got underneath the poor ball and thumped it over deep extra cover for the maximum. Kumar brought up his half-century and finished his spell.
Prince Yadav came back into the attack as Jacobs slammed it away straight down the ground past Axar at long-on for a boundary. The 100-run stand came up between the two players. Jacobs then hit Yadav by opening the bat face and sliced it over short third man for a boundary as the 50 came up for Jacobs in 40 balls. His 2nd T20I fifty. Arshdeep came back into the attack and conceded a wide. Phillips thrashed him away down the ground for a boundary at long-off as the 150 came up for New Zealand in 17.3 overs. Arshdeep bowled a wide ball.
Arshdeep got the wicket in the end as he dismissed Phillips for 70 off 43 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes to his name as a magnificent innings came to an end. Captain Mitchell Santner came out to bat next. Nitish came to bowl the 19th over as Jacobs took him on and launched it down the ground over long-off for the maximum. Reddy then got rid of Jacobs for 58 off 46 balls with 5 fours and one six to his name as he was caught by Axar in the deep.
Michael Bracewell came out to bat next and got off the mark with a maximum as he picked it up and sailed it over deep square leg for the maximum. Prince Yadav came to bowl the final over of the innings. He bowled 5 good balls but the last ball, Bracewell shuffled across to the slower ball and ramped it over the keeper’s head for a boundary to end the innings on a high. Bracewell stayed unbeaten on 10 off 2 balls with one four and one six to his name while Santner was unbeaten on 4 off 5 balls as New Zealand finished with 180/5 in 20 overs. 9 extras given by the fielding side.
The Indian bowlers were better with the ball tonight on a used surface. Arshdeep Singh was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/33 in 4 overs. Prince Yadav finished with 1/30 in 4 overs. Nitish Kumar Reddy finished with 1/31 in 3 overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar finished with expensive figures of 1/50 in 4 overs. Axar Patel finished with 0/28 in 4 overs. Naman Dhir bowled an over for 7 runs. This meant India’s target was 181 runs to win off 20 overs for a 2-0 lead in the 5-match series.
Who’s Winning, India or New Zealand?Â
New Zealand have posted 180 on the board on a used surface. The pitch is decent, but is challenging compared to the other night. India’s batting depth should chase this down. But in cricket, we can’t say and Kiwis will believe they can defend this if they bowl or field well. An interesting chase is on the cards is what we feel. No real advantage to any team at this stage.
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