India captain Suryakumar Yadav feels that if one or two batters had supported Shivam Dube, they might have avoided the 50-run defeat against New Zealand in Visakhapatnam in the fourth T20I of the five-match series.
Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, Suryakumar said:
“At the end of the day, it was a good learning experience. With the heavy dew, I think one or two partnerships here and there, like the way Dube batted, would have made a lot of difference if he had a partner with him. We lost by 50 runs, but it’s okay. As I said, one or two partnerships like this in a run chase might make a difference.”
India won the toss and opted to bowl. A niggle forced Ishan Kishan to sit out. Opener Tim Seifert scored a brilliant 36-ball 62, while Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell contributed 44 and an unbeaten 39 respectively, as New Zealand set a target of 216 for India. Arshdeep Singh and Kuldeep Yadav took two wickets each.
In reply, except for Dube (65 off 23 balls), none of the other batters could pose any challenge to New Zealand, as the Kiwis bundled India out for 165. New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/26.
Suryakumar explained the idea behind trying a different combination.
“I feel we purposely played six batters today. We wanted to have five specialist bowlers and challenge ourselves. For example, if we’re chasing 200 or 180, we wanted to see how the game looks if we lose two or three wickets early. But in the end, it’s fine. We also wanted to give game time to all the players who are part of the World Cup squad.”
Thiruvananthapuram’s Greenfield International Stadium will host the fifth and final T20I of the series on January 31.
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