India vs New Zealand: 1st T20I – Who Said What

The 1^st T20I match of the three-match series between India and New Zealand saw action setting up at the pink city Jaipur. However, the Indian side remained successful in painting the pink city blue by winning the clash by five wickets. India was stepping up in the game with certain changes like a new T20I skipper and head coach and the tone couldn’t have been set better.

Winning the toss, the Rohit Sharma-led side put Kiwis to bat first wherein they posted a fine target of 165 runs. Running through the batting set up of guests, it was about all about the two-men show and they were veteran Martin Guptill and former Hong Kong cricketer Mark Chapman. While Guptill set the perfect tone with his brave 70 off 42, Chapman helped NZ settle on a fine score with his 50-ball 63.

Suryakumar Yadav shines for India with his 62 off 40

It was a great sight for hosts to their experienced pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar getting back to his usual self as he got successful twice while conceding at 6.0. Ravi Ashwin found his magic yet again as he picked two wickets while conceding just 23 runs in his quota. When it came to chasing, it was the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma who was on full duty as he set the stage with his 48 off 36.

However, the rest of the burden was carried gracefully by Suryakumar Yadav who didn’t mind adding some more feathers to his international cap with his 62 off 40. Fearless Pant added the finishing touch with his 17 runs. Trent Boult picked two wickets for the Kiwis.

Winning skipper, Rohit Sharma, said:

Towards the end we saw it wasn’t easy, was a great learning for the guys because those guys haven’t batted in that situation before for India. It was great learning for them to understand what needs to be done, it’s not about power hitting all the time and you try and put the ball to the left or right of the fielder and try and take singles or find boundaries. As a team we are happy that those guys got to bat in that situation and finished the game off. Technically was a good game, missing a few players and to come and see what the new players have in terms of ability and I think the way we pulled it back in the last 3-4 overs was magnificent. In the end it was a great effort from all our bowlers. They (Ashwin and Axar) bowl in tandem for the Delhi Capitals and they are always looking to take wickets which is a good sign and it’s important to try and put the brakes and those guys do that.

Losing skipper, Tim Southee, said:

You always want to come out on the right side of the result. We played our best cricket and took it deep. Mark Chapman hasn’t played a lot of cricket of late, and to play the way he played was very pleasing to the side. It was a game of fine margins. It was a good score, we wanted to start well with the ball but we did well to claw back in the middle and obviously Mitch Santner was outstanding with the ball and to take it deep and take it to the last over I guess that was a positive as well. It’s always tough with different grounds and stuff like that but we set high expectations ourselves, a little bit off in the field and it’s an area we pride ourselves on and that we have been very good at in the last few months. It’s always tough, Daryl has got a lot of training and always want to bowl but probably didn’t leave him enough runs in the end. Guptill played nicely, Santner showed his class as well.

Player of the match, Suryakumar Yadav said:

I’ve been doing nothing different, I try to bat the same way in the nets and replicate the same in the game. I put a lot of pressure on myself in the nets, if I get out I go into the dressing room and think what better I could have done. The ball was coming on nicely to the bat, came on a bit slow later, but happy to be on the winning side.” On Boult’s dropped catch: “It’s my wife’s birthday, a perfect gift from him.” How touching.