yorker on middle, Bhuvi pushes it to long-on and that's the game
India vs New Zealand, 2nd T20I at Rajkot, Ind v NZ, Nov 04 2017 - Match Result
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Colin Munro is the Man of the Match for his 109 not out: "Felt good tonight. Few chances went my way and that's T20 cricket. Taken a while, I was here in the A trip. Felt good with the bat but kept getting out. I love batting at the top of the order, getting the team off to a flyer with Guppy. The way I bat is the same every time, whether I'm chasing 200 or 120. Go out there, stay still and try and hit fours and sixes. I was talking with McMillan, and the times when I've premeditated is when I've been trying to do too much. So I've just got to stay still and react to the ball"
"I guess a contrasting performance from the last game. An improved performance on all sides, we need to keep doing this to beat India here and going on to the next game, we need to repeat this," Kane Williamson says. "Great partnership up top, and obviously Munners getting a hundred was fantastic. When a batsman gets that many runs,
the team will always get a big total. Guptill and Bruce gave good support and the bowlers did really well to defend it. Whenever you watch a player similar to you perform, you want to emulate them and our two spinners did really well, they consistently came in to bowl tough overs and they bowled very very well"
10.35 pm "I thought New Zealand were really good with the bat early on. We didn't take our chances, yes, but at once stage they were looking to get 235-240 and credit to Bumrah and Bhuvi to pull things back," Virat Kohli says "Eventually we weren't good enough with the bat. When you're chasing 200, all the batsmen need to chip in, or one batsman has to keeping going at a 200 strike-rate. Tried to do my best. MS was very good at the end. But we were left with a very difficult task. It happens to a lot of batsmen, sometimes you are in good form, but you don't get enough balls. We back our batsmen though. We back Hardik, and its just a little glitch. After 13-14 overs, it gripped a bit. But we have no excuses, we weren't good enough with the bat. There wasn't any kind of dew. The ball got scuffed up [to help it turn]."
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10.25 pm They needed to win today. Then they needed a big total. Then they needed early wickets. And then they needed to hold their nerve. New Zealand ticked all the boxes today and have levelled the series 1-1. The margin - 40 runs - will please them as well. They were extremely off-colour in Delhi, but given a flat pitch in Rajkot, the man they wanted to generate strike-rate, Colin Munro was at one point set to take the record for the fastest T20I century by a New Zelander. Missed the mark by only a few balls.
Still, 196 did not seem a safe total. It only became so after Trent Boult knocked over two of India's gun batsmen Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan in the same over. The left-arm quick finished with four-for. Then came the middle overs, and a rampaging Virat Kohli.
He struck a blistering half-century and looked good for plenty more than 65. Among the reasons he was stifled was Ish Sodhi, who knocked over Hardik Pandya with a ripping googly right after Munro nabbed Shreyas Iyer. Quick wickets forced India's captain to rein himself back and that's not helpful in a chase where the required rate is over 10
The funny thing though was for most of the day, Kohli was batting with MS Dhoni, a batsman known for his power game. He finished with 49 off 37, but at one point he was barely going at a run-a-ball, which was exactly the point when India needed both ends to be firing. The spinners Mitchell Santner and Sodhi tied him down with a leg stump line and forced him to contort into all these awkward shapes. Is it just one bad day, or is Dhoni starting to feel out of depth now when the situation demands big shot after big shot?
"It's a pretty flat wicket, which was put on show by Munro. It's nice to get the boys across the line to give him a winning hundred. It started to turn later in the innings, the ball got scuffed up nicely," Ish Sodhi says. "Working on the legbreak and the googly a lot in the nets. And If I keep bowling them at the right times, I'll keep being effective. [You bowl the googly or legbreak better?] Sometimes it depends on the day, what comes out better out the hand, but it's all about practice. Getting across the board on this great wicker here was truly a plus"
Saransh Shukla: "Dhoni is a matchwinner in ODIs but in T20s it just doesn't seem to be clicking. Today he took momentum off the chase after the Iyer's wicket when Kohli was on song. VK just needed another player at the opposite end to play freely."
Ritvik: "196 is never an easy task on any wicket but what we expect is the better fight. The required run rate was above 14rpo from the 12th over itself. Dhoni doesn't fit in the t20 lineup anymore. Selectors need to find explosive batsmen in t20 to get more wins."
Peddi: "@naman.just look at how dhoni is hitting sixes and he is second highest score today.but the time when he came for batting, target is too high and cant reachable still he tried. Pant is still has to learn from domestic and get mature"
slower ball in line with the stumps, Bumrah gets an inside edge to fine leg
full and outside off, Bumrah slices it to point
the short ball gets too big on him - arrives too quickly as well - and the pull shot goes only as far as square leg. Finally something sticks for Santner. And Boult, after two of his worst performances ever, has four-for
full and outside off, smears it to long-off and doesn't take the single. He's one shy of a fifty
into the stands behind midwicket. It's a length ball from around the wicket and Dhoni gets under it and heaves it into the crowd
Elsewhere, in hockey, a resurgent Indian women's team will take on China in the final of the Asia Cup tomorrow. Our sister site ESPN.in evaluates their chances.
a slower short ball outside off, Dhoni pulls it to long-on
full toss on middle stump, whips it to the square leg boundary
slower ball goes wrong and is wided down leg
full and outside off, slogs it to deep midwicket
Pallav anand: "There is a serious problem with the team management. Without the top 3 india cant win a single match either t20 or odi...today also when spinners were bowling axar should come ahead of pandya...india is playing way too Orthodox in t20 too...and luk at other teams... playing unorthodox cricket"
dropped as Dhoni mistimes it to long-off, and it is Santner's third spill of the series (at least). After he throws the ball back, he puts his hands on his knees and affords himself a smile. Makes good distance running to his left to track down the ball as a flat-batted smack to long-on goes awry. But it just doesn't stick in the mitts
keeps the front leg away and heaves a full delivery on off stump out to long-on
cracks a short ball outside off to the extra cover boundary
low full toss outside off, Dhoni hits it down to long-off
Naman: "What does Dhoni bring to the team that Pant can't? T20I arent long enough to devise elaborate strategies. And Kohli has been a captain long enough to think for himself. It is time Dhoni gives space to someone else in T20s"
full on off stump, Dhoni flicks to deep midwicket
follows the batsman's move across off stump and nails the yorker
no pace on the ball and Axar can't put enough on it to beat extra cover. It's a very short ball, it's an offcutter, and it's wide of the advancing batsman. Beautiful tactics. Axar reaches out to make contact, in doing so he loses his balance, and so power.
yorker, tailing quite late into the left-hander, but that helps Axar work it away to the fine leg boundary
walks across but he can't do much about a yorker outside off. Spears it to deep cover
Only three off the Santner over leaving India needing 72 off 18
down the track for a flick to deep square leg
1W | ||||
1W |
1W | ||||
1W | ||||
Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot | |
Toss | New Zealand, elected to bat first |
Series | |
Season | 2017/18 |
Player Of The Match | |
Series result | 3-match series level 1-1 |
Match number | T20I no. 631 |
Hours of play (local time) | 19.00 start, First Session 19.00-20.25, Interval 20.25-20.45, Second Session 20.45-22.10 |
Match days | 04 November 2017 - night (20-over match) |
T20I debut | |
Umpires | |
TV Umpire | |
Reserve Umpire | |
Match Referee |