With the T20 World Cup 2026 just two weeks away, the hosts nearly had a complete performance in the IND vs NZ 1st T20I in Nagpur.
The Men in Blue have got the ground running in the most perfect manner in the IND vs NZ 1st T20I. After being put in to bat, the hosts powered their way to a staggering 238/7 on the back of superb knocks from Abhishek Sharma and Rinku Singh.
In reply, Glenn Phillips did all he could with a wonderful knock of 78 off 40 deliveries, but the visitors could never catch up to the scoring rate. As a result, Suryakumar Yadav & Co. went 1-0 up in the five-match series with a 48-run win.
Cricket is a game full of moments. Hundreds of small moments come together over a period of a few hours to form a result that can be summed up in a single line.
However, the result of a game is very seldom defined by just one solitary moment, which stands as a highlight. Multiple moments come together to formulate an outcome, even though only some may shine as the highlight.
Here are a few Hits & Flops from the 1st T20I between India and New Zealand in Nagpur:
Well, he did not score a half-century, which has eluded him since what seems like ages now. But Suryakumar Yadav seems to have made a technical correction in his batting since the T20I series against South Africa.
The video on the left is Suryakumar Yadav’s dismissal in the T20I series against the Proteas. Just before the ball is released, we can see a slight adjustment, which appears to be rushed or sudden – not allowing him to keep his head still. He did that in most of the innings in that series.
However, the video on the right is the first ball which he faced today (January 21). We can see that the sudden movement has disappeared, and he looks to be far more balanced than he appeared in the series against South Africa.
One of the biggest positives for New Zealand was Glenn Phillips. Coming in to bat at No.4, he scored a sumptuous 78 off just 40 deliveries – an innings which comprised four boundaries and six maximums. But that was not the best part of his innings.
The way Phillips was reading Varun Chakravarthy off his hand was impressive. The right-handed batter scored 19 runs off nine deliveries from the Indian mystery spinner, tonking two sixes. When most batters are forced to read Chakravarthy off the deck, Phillips is proving to be an exception.
Mitchell Santner had a lot of bowling options, eight to be precise. However, more the options, greater the confusion might be a phrase that sometimes comes to effect. The Kiwi skipper bowled three of his pacers out way too early, and had to bring in Daryl Mitchell for the last over, costing 21.
Even though he wanted to use Daryl Mitchell, Santner should have found a way to do it a lot earlier in the innings, probably just after a fall of a wicket. However, Jacob Duffy was the only bowler with an economy of less than seven. None of the other bowlers could keep their economy below 10.
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Tim Robinson, who opened the innings in the IND vs NZ 1st T20I is not a part of the T20 World Cup 2026 squad for the Kiwis. Therefore, that position will mostly be filled up by Finn Allen. However, the Kiwis might have a problem of plenty in the middle-order, which was reflected in this match.
The fact that Mark Chapman was sent out to bat at No.4 indicated that one of Glenn Phillips or Daryl Mitchell would have to bat out of position. Moreover, with Devon Conway and Allen opening the batting (in T20 WC 2026), Rachin Ravindra would take the No.3 spot ideally.
That being said, Daryl Mitchell would again be batting too deep for his strengths. Mitchell came in at No.6 in the first T20I in Nagpur – something which the Kiwis cannot afford in the mega-tournament.
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