New Zealand skipper Tim Southee said that taking the game to the last over against India in the first T20I was a positive for them. New Zealand was at the receiving end of a 5-wicket of loss against India.
Batting first after losing the toss, the Black Caps on account of a 109-run partnership between Martin Guptill (70) and Mark Chapman (63) posted a total of 164/6 runs on the board.
Chasing the target, Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul came out all guns blazing and brought up their fifty-run partnership in just 5 overs until the latter perished for 15 runs.
Read Also: Cricket fraternity reacts as Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma script India’s tense win in 1st T20I
Suryakumar Yadav, who came to bat at No.3, looked a class apart. He along with skipper Rohit Sharma stitched 59 runs partnership and then later paved his way through 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, there was still a twist in the tale as the match went to last over.
With 10 runs needed in the last over, Rishabh Pant held his nerve and took India home with 2 balls to spare.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, New Zealand skipper Tim Southee said that they played their best cricket and took it deep. He lauded Mark Chapman for the way he played and remarked that it was a game of fine margins.
"You always want to come out on the right side of the result. We played our best cricket and took it deep. Mark Chapman hasn't played a lot of cricket of late, and to play the way he played was very pleasing to the side. It was a game of fine margins," Tim Southee said.
Southee admitted that his side did well while defending the target and to take the game into the last over was a positive sign for them.
"It was a good score, we wanted to start well with the ball but we did well to claw back in the middle and obviously Mitch Santner was outstanding with the ball and to take it deep and take it to the last over was a positive sign for us," he said.
Southee said the ground differences played a part in his team's fielding woes in the match, adding that it's something the Black Caps take pride in.
On Mitchell's last over, he said the all-rounder was prepared and ready to bowl but just didn't have enough runs to defend.
"It's always tough with different grounds and stuff like that but we set high expectations ourselves, a little bit off in the field and it's an area we pride ourselves on and that we have been very good at in the last few months. It's always tough, Daryl has got a lot of training and always wants to bowl but probably didn't leave him enough runs in the end," he said.
The second T20I between India and New Zealand will be played on 19th November in Ranchi.
(ANI Inputs)
