After the high-scoring match in Auckland a couple of days ago, New Zealand and India were back at it again in Eden Park in Auckland for the second T20I match. New Zealand won the toss and chose to bat first and both teams went in unchanged.
However, the pitch turned out to be difficult to bat on as players struggled with timing. Unlike last time, Guptill (33) and Munro (26) put on just 48 runs for the first wicket in 6 overs. The Indian pacers turned on the heat with short pitch bowling, which didn’t let New Zealand batsmen hit the big shots.
Then the Indian spinners choked the middle order as Jadeja picked up the important wicket of Williamson for 14 and De Grandhomme for 3 runs. Tim Seifert’s 33* took the Kiwis to 132/5 in 20 overs. Jadeja picked 2/18, while Dube (1/16), Bumrah (1/21) and Thakur (1/21) were other wicket-takers.
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In reply, Rohit Sharma fell early again for 8 runs to Southee, who then removed Kohli for 11 runs. KL Rahul once again played savior on a tough pitch, making 57* with 3 fours and 2 sixes. He added 86 runs with Shreyas Iyer (44; 1 four and 3 sixes) for the 3rd wicket and took India safely past the finishing line. Shivam Dube ended the match with a six as Iyer had done in the first match and India won by 7 wickets.
With this win, India went 2-0 up in the T20I series and the third match will be played in Hamilton on January 29.
The cricket fraternity was elated with a clinical Indian team’s performance and showered praise on Twitter.
Here are some tweets:
