Team India registered a nervy six-wicket victory over New Zealand in the second T20I in Lucknow on Sunday (January 29).
Opting to bat first, the visitors posted a paltry 99/8 in their allotted 20 overs. It was a tricky pitch to bat on where the Kiwi batters couldn’t get going. Skipper Mitchell Santner was the top scorer with 19.
Except for Shivam Mavi, all the Indian bowlers managed to claim at least a wicket. While Arshdeep Singh returned with two scalps, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yada, Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar and Hardik Pandya took one wicket each.
Chasing the target, the Men in Blue were expected to get over the line without breaking a sweat but the Indian batters also found it tough against the New Zealand spinners.
The likes of Shubman Gill (11) and Rahul Tripathi (13) got out to Michael Bracewell and Ish Sodhi respectively while Ishan Kishan (19) and Washington Sundar (10) got run out.
When the hosts were struggling at 70/4, skipper Hardik Pandya joined Suryakumar Yadav at the crease and the duo stitched an unbeaten 31-run stand to take India over the line with one ball to spare. While Suryakumar hit the winning shot and remained unbeaten on 26 off 31 balls, Pandya finished with 20-ball 15.
Cricket experts took to Twitter and shared their views on the game after India levelled the three-match T20I series with a tense win.
Here are the reactions:
