Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan propelled India towards a second consecutive victory in the series.
“Against these guys, 300 maybe?” – Mitchell Santner on how much could have been a good total.
Have you ever played book cricket? The second innings of the 2nd T20I between India and New Zealand in Raipur was nothing less than book cricket. India chased down 209 with 28 balls to spare, thanks to the Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan blitzkrieg.
New Zealand got off to a flier in both the innings, but could never cash in on either. Though their batting helped them crawl to a par total in accordance to the conditions, the Indians made a mockery of their bowling in the second innings to go 2-0 up in the series.
Here are a few Hits & Flops from the 2nd T20I between India and New Zealand in Raipur:
Yes, Ishan Kishan played a knock which will be remembered for a long time to come, probably in a situation when India needed it the most. He started off by taking Zak Foulkes on in the third over, and never looked back. But there was something more than just brute power. There was a method to the madness.
Just when Ish Sodhi came on to bowl after the powerplay, he bowled a leg-break as his first ball. Ishan Kishan attempted a slog, but couldn’t connect. This is where the left-hander got into the mind of Sodhi, predicting that the next ball could be the wrong’un. And it was! Kishan immediately scored a boundary off a reverse sweep.
How many bowlers in the world can have the heart to toss the ball up even slower, after being belted for 14 runs off the last four deliveries? Well, Kuldeep Yadav does, and that is exactly why he needs to walk into the playing XI in every game.
Kuldeep started off against Phillips in his first over by bowling slightly wide of the stumps, making the Kiwi all-rounder reach out for the ball. However, in the second over, Phillips decided to take him on, and he did. Except the fifth ball of the over, when Kuldeep lit up Phillips’ eyes with an even slower delivery, which was a wrong’un.
Already having scored 14 off four balls, Phillips went for the big heave and ended up giving some catching practice to the fielder at point.
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Well, bowlers can have off days! But Arshdeep Singh did not just have an off-day in the powerplay. He went off track completely. India’s left-arm pacer bowled in no according of the fields that were set, and ended up going for 36 runs in his first two overs – a phase in which he is extremely good.
It is impossible to set fields for bad deliveries. When most of the fielders were on the off-side, Arshdeep kept bowling lengths that made it easier for the Kiwi openers to target the leg-side. Tim Seifert got off the mark with the kind of momentum he was provided with.
After seeing the scorecard, to say that India were 6/2 at a stage might seem a lie! However, Mitchell Santner’s decision to take Matt Henry out of the attack costed the Kiwis big time. Zak Foulkes was introduced into the attack, and he ended up conceding 24.
The best way for New Zealand to win the game was to pin India down with wickets. And that is exactly what Henry and Jacob Duffy did in the first two overs. The third over completely shifted the momentum in favour of India, and there was no looking back after that.
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