India showed great resilience to win the second T20I against New Zealand by four wickets at the Hagley Oval in Chrischurch on Saturday, October 24. The Men in Blue doubled their lead with this win.
New Zealand got off to a dismal start inside the powerplay, losing three wickets. However, Glenn Phillips and Bevon Jacobs stitched a 116-run stand off 76 balls to bring the Kiwis back in the game. While Phillips top-scored with a 43-ball 70, Jacobs finished on 58 off 46 balls. Two boundaries from Michael Bracewell in the backend of the innings helped the hosts finish on 180/5.
In reply, Matt Henry started with a maiden over. Jacob Duffy had Abhishek Sharma out caught in the deep but the celebrations were cut short when the third umpire confirmed that the right-arm seamer had overstepped. The opening partnership yielded 40 runs inside five overs but the tourists suffered a batting collapse from there on. They lost half their side for 70 runs in the 11th over.
Naman Dhir played a fine cameo of 31 off 17 balls before Santner sent him packing for his fourth wicket on the night. The onus was on Tilak Varma and Nitish Kumar Reddy to take India home. They forged a 69-run stand off 30 balls as India won the match with one ball to spare.
New Zealand also didn't have the rub of the green as Matt Henry left the field midway during the second innings with some issue and Lockie Fergsuon wasn't on the field for the last couple of overs.
NZ vs IND: Talking Points
1. Tilak Varma excels after returning to middle order
Tilak Varma has settled into the role of a middle-order batter who can finish matches under pressure. He was surprisingly promoted to No. 3 ahead of the in-form Ishan Kishan and the move failed badly. However, on Saturday, he batted at No. 6, gave himself a bit of time to adjust to the conditions before playing an unbeaten knock of 51 off 26 balls to take the team home.
2. Nitish Kumar Reddy excels with bat and ball
Nitish Kumar Reddy is getting ample opportunities to showcase his all-round skills at the international level amid Hardik Pandya's prolonged absence due to injuries. The 23-year-old is managing to make a mark in both facets of the game. In the second T20I, he dismissed a well-set Bevon Jacobs and finished with figures of 1/31 in three overs. With the bat, he scored an unbeaten 26 off 13 balls and took the visitors to victory alongside Tilak.
3. Mitchell Santner and Glenn Phillips' efforts go in vain
Phillips scored an unbeaten 80 in the first T20I in a losing cause. On Saturday, he smashed 70 off 43 balls, hitting four fours and as many sixes. However, it wasn't enough to ensure a victory for the Black Caps. Skipper Santner bowled brilliantly, finishing with figures of 4/21 in four overs. However, he didn't get much support from his fellow bowlers.
NZ vs IND: Who Said What?
Mitchell Santner, New Zealand Captain:
[On another close defeat and the fine margins against a strong opposition] I mean, you play a very good team. It’s always going to be like that, I think. Tilak and Naman and then obviously Reddy at the end, really played pretty well. I think if we got one more wicket there, it was kind of game over. So the way they controlled that chase and, I guess, made us make some errors at the end. [On the impact of the spinners and whether he considered other bowling options, including Glenn Phillips] There’s plenty going through my mind. I think obviously the way the guys started with the ball, outstanding, I think. A score like 180, if they get off to a flyer with the power play, it’s pretty tough from there. So I thought we did pretty well to claw them back, and then obviously through the middle, Beast (Bracewell) is bowling extremely well, and it was nice to get a few poles. I think, you know, a couple of no-balls, obviously no-ball wicket and stuff like that along the way, that obviously hurts you. And I think that from a skills point of view, it’s been very good the last two games. It’s just kind of those little moments where whether it’s in the field or kind of those little sloppy stuff that’s going to hurt us a little bit.
[On the batting effort and the partnerships between Bevon Jacobs and Glenn Phillips after losing early wickets] Obviously GP’s done it for a long time now, and I think even Bev, they played the situation beautifully. We lost three early and then they kind of built. I think we were only 60-odd after 10, but then I think it’s one of those surfaces where if you give yourself a chance, give yourself some balls, you can kind of cash in with the power of those two. I thought they played very well. And then, I mean, I blocked a couple of them, but Beast (Bracewell), you know, even 10 off two there to get us up to 180. [On Matt Henry being off the field and the possibility of injuries or rotation during the series] I think it’s precautionary, and I think Lockie went off as well. So hopefully those guys scrub up okay. But I think with the quick turnarounds throughout the series and in the one-days, there could be a bit of rotation. I think that’s just what it’s going to have to be.
Shreyas Iyer, India Captain:
[On India's win under pressure and the team's ability to produce match-winners] Yes, absolutely. I feel that every individual in our game is a match winner, and today we saw the example of that. Like, honestly speaking, when we lost wickets, consecutive wickets especially, we thought that the game was going away from us. But Tilak and Reddy, they showed immense character, and also a great cameo by Naman Dhir. [On Naman Dhir's contribution and his all-round abilities] We saw him in a couple of games back home against West Indies. He’s a phenomenal bowler as well, and once you get both the parts covered in terms of batting and bowling, I think he brings in a lot of character, and also when you see him move around in the field, he basically, he’s a comprehensive player. [On the challenge posed by New Zealand's spinners Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell and India's approach during the chase] I think we played a lot of dot balls initially, and that basically piled up the run rate as well, and also when we went in, we wanted to actually cruise, but they bowled amazing, especially Bracewell and Santner, the way they controlled the game in the middle. It wasn’t easy to strike the ball, but I think if we would have picked up the gaps and tried to find boundaries, we could have easily cruised. But unfortunate. You know, it happens. Just another day, and I’m sure that we’ll bounce back pretty strong.
[On India's fielding effort and the importance of preventing the opposition from taking twos] I think that was the message passed on to each and every player in the team, that you got to anticipate every ball that is coming to you, and just believe that you’re going to give singles, and just see to it that you’re running into the ball so that, you know, the opponents, they think twice about running twos. [On India's next destination and the team's progress in the series] Thank you so much. Job is still half done.
Tilak Varma, Player of the Match:
(What was the mindset after losing 5 wickets) No, at that stage I was just thinking about playing till the end. Just before today’s game, I was talking with coach Gautam sir and Sitanshu Kotak Sir. I was talking with both of them, and they said one thing that we all believe, and the whole India believes in you. If you stay till the end, then you will win the game for us. So that’s what was going through my mind. I wanted to take the game as deep as possible, and at the end of the day, again, what everyone has believed and have done. So I’m really proud of myself. (On the partnership with Naman Dhir) I was telling Naman that we’ll stay till the end, and especially the wicket was slightly slower today, compared to the last game. So I was telling Naman that we’ll push hard in running between the wickets when spinners were bowling. So that’s what our plan was, and we pushed hard when they were bowling, and unfortunately Naman got out in the last over of Mitchell Santner. Otherwise, I think we would have finished the game in 19th over, sorry, 18th over. So credit goes to Naman as well, the way he batted, but after that, you know, the Hyderabadi boys are in play today, Nitish Reddy and myself, and we are really happy that we finished the game. (On batting out the spinners) Definitely there was a plan like that, but we thought that we’ll put that intent when they bowl in our arc. We’ll go. Otherwise, we want to just push it in the gaps and we want to run hard. And we have done that. I think, I think four to five two runs we have got in spinners. So they were really crucial, those eight to ten runs. So I think we played smartly there, and later on we know that we can hit sixes against the fast bowlers. We needed that pace in this huge ground. So we were waiting for that, and we finished off in style.
