For fans of Indian cricket team, a bilateral series win at this point might only serve as a consolation after the heartbreak at the T20 World Cup 2021. However, with another edition of the 20-over World Cup not very far away, the Men in Blue are taking baby steps in the right director.
Embarking on a new era under Rahul Dravid’s stewardship and Rohit Sharma’s captaincy, India got a hard-fought win over New Zealand in the first of the three-match T20I series, but the second win here at the JSCA International Stadium Complex was much easier.
Batting first, all New Zealand could manage was 163 runs. The spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel got the Kiwi batters cornered, while Harshal Patel also showed why he is ready for the big stage. India chased the total down inside the 18th over, with seven wickets in hand.
Fiery start for New Zealand
New Zealand might not had a rough day with the bat, but they certainly had a superb start. In the very first over of the match, Martin Guptill took Bhuvneshwas Kumar to the cleaner, and the assault continued in the next few overs as well.
At the end of the first four overs, New Zealand has put up 42 runs on the board without any loss, looking all set to cross the 180-run mark. However, Deepak Chahar gave India their first breakthrough in the next over, when he dismissed Guptill.
The Kiwis did not lose a second wicket immediately, as Mark Chapman added stability to their innings. However, the killer instinct was gone, and now they were dealing solely in singles and occasional doubles.
The Patels did the trick for India
Last match’s star, Mark Chapman could have proved to be deadly in this game as well, had Axar Patel not dismissed him in the 9th over. In the 12th over of the match, Harshal Patel got his maiden wicket in T20I cricket by dismissing Daryl Mitchell.
The next few overs did not produce anything significant to be talked out. Glenn Phillips and Tim Seifert temporarily stopped the procession of wickets, but they were also playing safe cricket, with an occasional boundary here and there.
In the 15th over of the match, Ashwin joined the action and dismissed Tim Seifert to get his first, and his team’s fourth wicket of the match. Harshal Patel then picked up his second wicket in the very next over by sending Phillips back to the pavilion.
Brilliant death bowling from the hosts
At the end of 17 overs, New Zealand found themselves at 138/5. With Jimmy Neesham and Mitchell Santner at the crease, both of whom can hit a long ball, they ideally would have wanted to score a minimum of 170 runs.
However, after being smashed in his initial spell, Bhuvneshwar Kumar made a great comeback in the 18th over of the match. He conceded only 2 runs and also dismissed Jimmy Neesham. In the last two overs of the match, New Zealand could only muster up 13 runs.
Rohit-Rahul partnership delivers once again
The opening combination of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma has worked well in the last few matches for India, and this game was not an exception either. Both batters got off to a good start as India scored 45 runs after the first six overs.
The next three overs produced only 18 runs, but the duo once again started played the big shots from the 10th over onwards. Mitchell Santner conceded 16 runs in one over, while in the next over, Adam Milne went for 13 runs. The 12th over also produced 13 runs, with Trent Boult being the bowler this time around. After the end of 12 overs, India found themselves at 105/0, cruising seamlessly towards a very comfortable victory.
Quick wickets cannot derail India
New Zealand got their first breakthrough of the match in the 14th over, when Tim Southee dismissed KL Rahul. A couple of overs later, he added two more wickets to his tally, in the form of Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav.
However, from a broader perspective, it was all but mere consolation. A small cameo of 6-ball 12 from Rishabh Pant, which included two sixes, got India over the line. It will now be interesting to see whether the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yuezvendra Chahal are given a chance in the last match of the T20I series at Kolkata.
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