The first match of the series was played in Auckland, New Zealand. Virat Kohli lost the toss from the Blackcaps captain Kane Williamson. New Zealand opted to bat first in the First T20I and they got a nice start from their openers. After the first innings, Blackcaps ended up scoring 203 runs with a loss of 5 wickets of Martin Guptill (30 of 19), Colin Munro (59 of 42), Kane Williamson (51 of 26), Colin de Grandhomme (0 of 2) and Tim Seifert (1 of 2).
With the half centuries of Colin Munro, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor, Blackcaps were pretty confident of winning this game. India didn’t get a great start as the hitman Rohit Sharma departs after making 7 runs off 6 balls. But KL Rahul was in a different form of his career. With the skipper Virat Kohli, Rahul tried to put pressure on the Blackcaps by hitting consecutive boundaries. As the innings started building up, India lost a crucial wicket of KL Rahul who played a cracking knock of 56 runs off 27 balls smashing 4 fours and 3 gigantic sixes. After that India again lost a very important wicket of Virat Kohli as the skipper departs making 45 off 32 balls.
With losing two consecutive wickets, team was under-pressure but the young and talented Middle order explosive batsman Shreyas Iyer played a supersonic knock of 58 runs off 29 balls, supported by the two batsman Shivam Dube and Manish Pandey as India chased the target with 1 over left. Shreyas Iyer was selected Man of the Match as he helped his team to get over the victory line.
By taking 1-0 lead in the series of 5 matches, India again lost the toss and again Blackcaps decided to Bat first. This time, the Indian bowlers showed their skills as India restricted Blackcaps till 132 with losing 5 wickets of Martin Guptill (33 of 20), Colin Munro (26 of 25), Colin de Grandhomme (3 of 5), Kane Williamson (14 of 30), Ross Taylor (18 of 24) and Tim Seifert* (33 of 26).
With the great bowling effort from the Indian side, now it was time for the batsmen to show their skills on the pitch. Rohit Sharma similar to the innings he played in the first match, was repeating it in the second match too. Southee departed Rohit with an easy catch from Ross Taylor on 8 runs. Indian fans again expecting something from the skipper Virat Kohli were left disappointed as Southee took another wicket.
But the heroes of the last match KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer again showed their class and helped the team in difficult situation. Rahul and Iyer both are striking to get over the victory line. But in between, both of the batsman were struggling between the wickets as both the batsman were taking wrong calls to take runs in between. Shreyas Iyer departed by playing a silly short against Ish Sodhi. He departed by making 44 runs from 33 balls. KL Rahul ended up his innings with 57 runs off 50 balls. KL Rahul was selected Man of the Match.
India headed towards Hamilton with lead of 2-0. Again India lost the toss but this time Blackcaps invited the Indian team to bat first. The opening pair Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul walk in and this time both the openers got a good start. From the start, Rohit Sharma started playing some aggressive shots and accompanying him KL Rahul started his innings with the same. Both the batsmen were playing good cricket but KL Rahul departs off with a simple catch by Colin Munro. After few balls, Rohit Sharma also departed and following him, Shivam Dube also departed nextforth.
With the consecutive falling of wickets, skipper Kohli and Iyer decided to make a statement and started playing some defensive shots. In between of that, both the batsmen were trying to play some aggressive shots also. But before they could make a huge partnership, Iyers departed by Santner with a simple stumping by Seifert. Kohli and Manish Pandey tried to take the innings to a good end but before he could do that, he departed on 38 off 27 balls by Hamish Bennett. But Manish Pandey and Jadeja took the scoreboard towards a good and a fighting score of 179 in 20 overs.
Its time for the bowlers to take the driving seat from the side. Both the openers from the Blackcaps walk into the middle to give a good start for their respective team. Martin Guptill got a good start against the fast bowlers. Munro also supported him well and they helped their team to head upto a good start. Guptill was looking in a good form but departs with a spectacular catch by Sanju Samson in Deep Point. Next over Munro also departed by Jadeja on 14 off 16 balls. Kane Williamson and Mitchell Santner both tried to take their team ahead but Chahal departed Santner on 9 off 10 balls.
Kane Williamson alone like a warrior, tried to take his team ahead and he was well supported by his partner Colin de Grandhomme who was at non-strikers end. Williamson made the world’s best bowler Bumrah in trouble as he was struggling in his line and length against the Blackcaps. In between, players also dropped some easy catches and misfielded during the innings which helped the Blackcaps to make comeback again in the match.
The match was became exciting when it came to the last over. Mohammad Shami has got ball in his hand as he was approaching towards Ross Taylor. Taylor hits the first ball in the stands as the Blackcaps now needed 3 off 5 balls. Taylor took a single and gave strike to Williamson. Shami was looking in pressure and he departed Williamson and made a hope for comeback for the team in the match. Williamson departs making 95 runs in 48 balls. Shami approaches towards the new batsman on the crease Tim Seifert and balls a dot ball by pulling his length to good off short length. Now, they needed 2 off 2 balls and from here, match may go towards any of the team. Next ball and again Seifert misses the ball but they became successful to rotate the strike and made Taylor on the strike. Now Blackcaps needed 1 off 1 ball. This time, Taylor is on strike but he caught by Shami’s leading edge which helved him to get bowled and here is where the match got tied between the two teams. Taylor departs from 17 off 10 balls.
Both the teams now play a super over which decides the results of the match. Indian team bowl first in the super over and Blackcaps bat. Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson opened the batting for Blackcaps. Jasprit Bumrah bowled the super over for the team. Bumrah conceded 14 runs in the super over.
To chase the target of 15 runs, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul walked into the middle. Start was not well as Rohit Sharma survived from a bizarre run-out from the fielders. KL Rahul gave a good start and helped the team to be in a good position. Rohit Sharma hit 2 huge sixes in the last 2 balls of Tim Southee and made the team win the thriller. He was also selected Man of the Match.
Credits: Parv Jain
Check out my new article on the link given below
Sportsbuzz 