Kuldeep Yadav (L) was the pick of the bowlers. | (Credits: BCCI X)
Mitchell Santner’s choice to bat first after winning the toss appeared to be paying off well. Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya started strongly with the ball, keeping the scoring tight as New Zealand managed just 10 runs in the first three overs. The Kiwi openers seemed focused on settling in before launching an attack on the bowlers.
Rachin Ravindra soon shifted gears, taking on Pandya in the fourth over with two boundaries and a six, adding 16 runs to the scoreboard. Suddenly, New Zealand’s run rate surged past six per over. Ravindra continued his aggressive approach, striking consecutive fours off Shami, making his intentions clear and putting India under pressure.
However, Varun Chakravarthy applied brakes on the scoring spree by getting rid of Will Young. The spinner had the Kiwi opener trapped in front of the wicket for 15 runs. Ravindra was handed two lifeline by Indians with Mohammad Shami and Shreyas Iyer both dropping catches. Shami dropped the left-hander of his bowling on the third ball of the seventh over while he was batting on 29 runs. Ravindra chipped the ball back to the bower, however, Shami failed to latch onto the chance after which he called the physio to patch the injured finger.
India’s drop four catches but Kiwis failed to properly capitalize:
Ravindra got another lifeline on the first ball of the seventh over. He tried to sweep Varun Chakravarthy but the ball took the top edge and Iyer made good ground and dived full length to try and take the catch. However, he failed to hold onto the catch. Ravindra was ultimately bowled by Kuldeep Yadav for 37 runs with a brilliant googly.
Kuldeep had Kane Williamson caught and bowled for just 11 runs off his bowling before Ravindra Jadeja got rid of Tom Latham on the second ball of the 23rd over by having him trapped in front of the wicket for 14 runs.
India’s fielding woes continued as Gill and Rohit dropped Mitchell and Glenn Philips respectively. However, Chakravarthy has the last laugh by breaking the 57-run stand between the two. The spinner clean-bowled Philips for 34 runs on the fifth ball of the 37th over to bring India back into the game. India’s spinners had come to the fore, especially Ravindra Jadeja, who finished with outstanding figures of 10-0-30-1.
As for New Zealand, the biggest partnership of their innings was between Glenn Phillips and Michael Bracewell as they added 57 together. Kuldeep was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 10-0-40-2, with Mitchell top-scored with 63.
