New Zealand vs India, 2nd T20I - Who Said What

India, like they have done on the most occasions, have levelled the series after being 0-1 down. They came out with a clear plan at the Eden Park in Auckland and first restricted New Zealand to a middling total and then chased it down without much fuss. Krunal Pandya was the hero for the visitors as he returned with the figures of 3/28 from his four overs and fittingly won the Man of the Match award.

Earlier in the day, New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat first only to get reduced to 50/4 within the first eight overs. Krunal was the wrecker-in-chief for them as he sent back Colin Munro, Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell with the last one being a bit controversial. Though Colin de Grandhomme stepped up to the task then finally to slam a 28-ball half-century and revived the team from a tough situation.

Ross Taylor also played a decent knock of 42 runs but consistent wickets at the fag end of the innings meant the Kiwis couldn’t get the final push and were restricted by India to 158 runs for the loss of eight wickets after 20 overs.

Clinical chase

While the series opener’s chase was messed up by the Men in Blue, Rohit Sharma led from the front this time around. With Shikhar Dhawan struggling, the Indian captain had to take up the responsibility. He scored quick runs in the powerplay also dishing out his trademark shot off the short ball. A 29-ball 50 from him set India off to a great start which was capitalised nicely by Rishabh Pant batting at number three.

Dhawan also contributed 30 runs to the winning cause after which Pant and the veteran MS Dhoni finished the chase with seven balls to spare. Pant remained unbeaten on 40 while the latter mustered 20 runs with a solitary boundary to his name. This also turned out to be India’s maiden win over the Kiwis in their own den in the shortest format.

Man of the Match, Krunal Pandya said:

 It felt really nice to contribute for the team. It’s always special when you contribute to a win. The dimensions are quite different from Wellington, the straight boundaries were short and I had to adjust my length to it. Looking forward to the decider in two days’ time.

India captain, Rohit Sharma said:

Very pleased to see how we bowled, and we were quite clinical with the bat as well. We have quality in our side, but we executed our plans better today, after learning from our mistakes. It’s important to understand the mistakes that we made – it’s been a long tour for everyone.

So we didn’t want to put a lot of pressure on the boys, just go in there with a clear mind. It’s going to be a cracker of a game in the 3rd T20I, but nothing to take away from New Zealand, they’re still a quality side.

New Zealand captain, Kane Williamson said:

I suppose the performance in Wellington was going to be difficult to replicate. We missed a trick or two with the bat. It was slightly more tricky to bat, but 20 more runs at the death would have been better. It wasn’t a 180-200 wicket for sure, but the opening partnership from India just took it away.

It’s important that as a side we are aware of the good bits we have done and put that into practice every time we come out to bat. Today it wasn’t our day to be honest. Today wasn’t as close as we would have liked, but having a full house like Eden Park, there isn’t any better atmosphere in the world.

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