India defeated New Zealand by 5 wickets in the first T20I.
Following India’s win against New Zealand in the first T20I at Jaipur on November 17, Player of the Match Suryakumar Yadav said that the wicket became slow in the end but he’s happy to be on the winning side.
India defeated New Zealand by 5 wickets in the first match of the three-match T20I series to take a lead 1-0.
Chasing the target of 165 runs, Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul came out all guns blazing and brought up their fifty-run partnership in just 5 overs. While Rahul perished soon for just 15 runs, the skipper continued to smash New Zealand bowlers all over the park, falling for 48.
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Suryakumar Yadav, who came to bat at No.3, looked a class apart. He along with skipper Rohit Sharma stitched 59 runs for the second wicket, en route to a classy half-century.
With the kind of display Indian batters showed in the middle, it almost seemed that they would finish the match way before the 20 overs but with wickets of Suryakumar Yadav for 62 runs and Shreyas Iyer in quick succession of time twisted the tales as the match went to the last over.
With 10 runs needed in the last over, debutant Venkatesh Iyer smashed four on the first ball he face and then went back to the dressing room on the very next ball. Rishabh Pant held his nerve and smashed four to take India home with 2 balls to spare.
Suryakumar Yadav, who was awarded Player of the Match, said that the ball was coming nicely onto the bat initially but later pitch became slow.
"The ball was coming on nicely with the dew coming in and later on it became really slow but in the end happy to be on the winning side," Suryakumar Yadav said in the post-match presentation.
When asked what special preparation he has taken over the last few years to improve his game, Yadav said that he bats the same way in the nets and tries to replicate that in the middle.
He revealed that he puts himself under a lot of pressure in the nets and if he gets out he thinks what better he could’ve done, which helps to perform better in the match.
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“I have not been doing anything different, just being myself whatever I have done since the last 3-4 years. I bat the same way in the nets and replicate the same in the middle. I try and put a lot of pressure on myself in the nets, for example, if I get out I just try to come out of the nets and try and think what better I could have done and it really helps when I play in the middle,” he said.
The second T20I will be played on 19th November in Ranchi.
(ANI inputs)