IND vs NZ: India hunts New Zealand in Jaipur

IND vs NZ 2021, 1st T20I, Jaipur: A new era begins for team India with a win. Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma star to take the first match by 5 wickets.

Winning the toss and bowling first, India looking to regain the edge which seems to be lacking in the recent T20 World Cup won by Australia against the Blackcaps.

Along with the Blues, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was also searching for his swing lost in recent times. A hint of it was seen when Daryl Mitchell was caught at the crease from an inswinger for a golden duck. Kumar finished his spell with another wicket of Tim Seifert in the death overs with an economy of 6. Has he found his rhythm?

The next partnership of 109 runs almost shaped the Black Caps innings for a big score. Martin Guptill(70) and Mark Chapman(63) both reached the half-century mark. While Chapman departed first in the 14th over, Guptill batted fiercely till the 18th over.

No other batters could make an impact thereafter but New Zealand still manages to reach 164 runs. The veteran off-spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin, was bowling superbly picking up two wickets at an economy below 6.

Although Deepak Chahar and Mohammed Siraj picked up a wicket and that too of Guptill and Ravindra respectively, were expensive. The lone bowler to not pick a wicket was Axar Patel but he bowled a decent spell.

India had a plan at the death and nearly succeeded in their effort. Bowling a cramped line to the batters who were constantly looking for space to throw their bat.

Lucky was India at the start of the chase. The fielder in slip could not react to the flying ball from Rahul’s outside edge. Apart from that, it was all Rohit Sharma. He was punishing bowlers for bowling short to him. Thanks to that India brought 50 runs in just five overs and strengthen their chances to chase successfully.

On the last over of the powerplay, Santner struck with excellent field placement and accurate line length. KL Rahul looking to go over the top of deep square leg found Mark Chapman on the fence.

The Black Caps looking to bounce back from that early fireworks, however, the dice were rolled by Suryakumar Yadav. He kept the pressure going from both ends.

The partnership ended in the 14th over when Boult finally found success with his shorter length but the slower ball. Being a compulsive puller, Rohit Sharma went after but Rachin Ravindra was in the way. Sharma was two runs short of his half-century.

Watching the skipper missing his half-century, however, Suryakumar got there quite quickly not having any effect on Rohit’s wicket. Luck favors the brave and Suryakumar was too brave. He was dropped on 57 runs by Trent Boult, it was a seater.

However, the braveness was short-lived when Boult repaid for his mistake and cleaned Surya up. The Indian inning from there on was dicey. They lost wickets and gained pressure on themselves.

New Zealand controlled the situation so well that, it went down to the wire. India needs 10 runs in the last over. Venkatesh Iyer blasted a four in his first ball and gave an easy catch at third man in the next ball.

The situation was tense, Axar Patel took a single and gave the strike back to Rishabh Pant. He took the aerial route over mid-on to claim the match. Suryakumar Yadav was rewarded with Player of the Match for his heroic innings.

Watch IND vs NZ highlights, first T20I at Jaipur.

IND vs NZ, first T20I: post match interview.

Suryakumar Yadav:

“I have not been doing anything different. I try to bat the same way in the nets and try to replicate it on the field. It was a great wicket to bat on, also with the dew coming on, the ball was coming easier on the blade. (laughing)Well, thanks to Trent Boult for letting me go.”

Rohit Sharma:

“It was a hard-fought victory, It was great learning for the guys who are new to these types of situations. The team is happy that the players got in those situations and finished things off. It was a great effort from the bowlers overall. The bowlers try to take wickets in the middle overs and put pressure on the batters. Ashwin is an outstanding bowler and for him to come back from the T20 World Cup has been good and Axar also knows what he needs to execute. They always bowl in tandem for Delhi in the IPL and are always looking to take wickets which is a good sign. Surya batted brilliantly and played some percentage shots as well. I have played with Boult a lot and he knows about my weaknesses. When I captain him, he always tells me to bluff and that’s what he did. He put the mid-wicket and fine leg up and I knew that he was going to bowl a bouncer. I tried to pull but there wasn’t much pace on the ball.”

Tim Southee:

“We wanted to get on the right side of things but we were not at our best. Mark Chapman played really well considering that he has not played much recently. It is a game of fine margins and we did not start well with the ball. Daryl Mitchell does work hard on his bowling and we had used all of our resources so we hand to go with him for the last over.”