India and New Zealand put on an absolutely cracking contest on a rain-filled evening in Mount Maunganui for the second T20I of their 3-match series. India won the game by 65 runs behind an inspirational performance from Suryakumar Yadav.
The first innings started with India batting after the BlackCaps won the toss and chose to field due to the conditions. India’s batting efforts were highlighted by Yadav’s masterful performance, as he made the Kiwi bowlers scratch their heads with his batting barrage. Despite a rain delay and a scintillating Tim Southee hat-trick in the final over, the Indians managed to put on a 191-run total and then romp home by 65 runs with Deepak Hooda leading the bowlers with a 4-wicket haul. New Zealand captain Kane Williamson provided the only resistance with 61 runs.
Meanwhile, Yadav speaking to Prime Video, the official streaming partner of New Zealand Cricket in India, said, “In T20, a hundred is always special but at the same time, it was really important for me to bat till the very end. Hardik was telling me to bat till the 18th or 19th over and get to a score of 185 or so. After the end of the 16th over, we had a chat about taking it deep. It was important to maximise the last few overs. I have been doing the same things over and over again, in the nets and it’s just coming off for me.”
“Really happy with the way things went. 100 on this day, after 10-12 overs I just started batting fearlessly to express myself. My innings took off like a rocket because there weren’t too many runs on the board. It is always better to have more runs. The ground was getting wet so, I thought, I must try to accumulate as many runs as possible at that juncture.” He also said his favourite shot of the match was the 6 that he hit against Lockie Ferguson.
New Zealand’s innings got off to a slow start with Finn Allen getting caught on the second delivery of the match. Kane Williamson and Devon Conway helped stabilise their innings and keep their hopes alive in the run chase, but Conway falling in the 8th over led to the Kiwi batting attack levelling off and unable to keep up with the chase. Kane Williamson’s half century steer the game in their direction went to waste as New Zealand were bowled out with 65 runs left. Tim Southee recorded the other notable performance for New Zealand with a hat-trick in the last over of the innings. He scalped the wickets of Hardik Pandya, Deepak Hooda and Washington Sundar to finish with 3 for 34 from his quote of 4 overs.
Catch all the live action from the final T20I of the three-match series between New Zealand and India on November 22 from 11:00 am onwards, live and exclusive on Prime Video