Mahendra Singh Dhoni watched from the 22 yards distance as his heir apparent Rishabh Pant showed spunk in a tricky situation, guiding India to its maiden T20 International victory on New Zealand soil here Friday.
The seven-wicket triumph was set up by skipper Rohit Sharma (50, 29b) and Shikhar Dhawan (30, 31b) with a 79-run stand after Krunal Pandya claimed three wickets to restrict New Zealand to 158 for eight.
Milestone
With his whirlwind fifty, Rohit also became the top run-getter in the format, surpassing Martin Guptill.
“Very pleased to see how we bowled, and we were quite clinical with the bat as well,” Rohit said in the post-match presentation.
Dhoni, the original master finisher, couldn’t have been happier as he saw Pant control what could have been a tricky 159-run chase chase with an unbeaten 40 off 28 balls. The series is now tied 1-1 with the decider in Hamilton on Sunday.
With the former India captain playing the role of mentor at the other end, the 44-run stand was very significant as Indian cricket slowly moves towards a change of guard.
Pant’s one-handed six off Tim Southee or the bowler’s back drive off Scott Kuggeleijn to finish off the match were reminiscent of Dhoni’s best days. Pant hit four boundaries and a six in all.
Earlier, Rohit’s flicked six off Kuggeleijn over backward square-leg was a treat for the eyes, but his dismissal along with Vijay Shankar’s did create a bit of unrest. However, Pant ensured that the panic button remained untouched.
While bowling, Krunal enhanced his already growing reputation as a steady short-format bowler with three important breakthroughs.
“We missed a trick or two with the bat. It was slightly more tricky to bat, but 20 more runs at the death would have been better,” said New Zealand captain Kane Williamson.
The parsimonious Krunal dismissed Colin Munro (12) and skipper Kane Williamson (20) to peg the Black Caps back early in the innings.
In between, Krunal also got a controversial wicket, that of Daryl Mitchell (1), who fell prey to an umpiring howler, when ‘Hotspot’ showed a clear inside edge onto the pads.
Colin de Grandhomme, who has played for KKR in the IPL, then counter-attacked, scoring a blistering 50 off 28 balls, adding 77 runs with Ross Taylor (42, 36b) for the fifth wicket.
Once de Grandhomme was sent back by Hardik Pandya and Taylor was run-out, New Zealand’s chances of a big total went up in smoke.
Much-improved performance
It was a much-improved performance by the Indian bowlers with Bhuvneshwar Kumar removing Tim Seifert (12) in the third over inducing an inside edge to Dhoni behind the stumps.
However, it was Krunal, who really applied the brakes after being brought in inside the Power Play overs. The elder Pandya quickly found the ideal length, bowling his usual wicket-to-wicket deliveries with a flatter trajectory.
Munro and Williamson got skidders. While left-handed opener Munro hit one straight to cover, Williamson was caught plumb in front.
Scoreboard
NEW ZEALAND: Tim Seifert c Dhoni b Bhuvneshwar 12 (12b, 1x4, 1x6), Colin Munro c Rohit b Krunal 12 (12b, 1x6), Kane Williamson lbw b Krunal 20 (17b, 3x4), Daryl Mitchell lbw b Krunal 1 (2b), Ross Taylor run out 42 (36b, 3x4), Colin de Grandhomme c Rohit b Hardik 50 (28b, 1x4, 4x6), Mitchell Santner b Khaleel 7 (8b), Scott Kuggeleijn (not out) 2 (2b), Tim Southee b Khaleel 3 (3b); Extras (lb-1, w-8): 9. Total (for eight wkts. in 20 overs): 158.
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-15 (Seifert, 2.3), 2-41 (Munro, 5.2), 3-43 (Mitchell, 5.6), 4-50 (Williamson, 7.5), 5-127 (de Grandhomme, 15.4), 6-153 (Taylor, 18.6), 7-154 (Santner, 19.2), 8-158 (Southee, 19.6).
INDIA BOWLING: Bhuvneshwar 4-0-29-1, Khaleel 4-0-27-2, Hardik 4-0-36-1, Krunal 4-0-28-3, Chahal 4-0-37-0.
INDIA: Rohit Sharma c Southee b Sodhi 50 (29b, 3x4, 4x6), Shikhar Dhawan c de Grandhomme b Ferguson 30 (31b, 2x4), Rishabh Pant (not out) 40 (28b, 4x4, 1x6), Vijay Shankar c Southee b Mitchell 14 (8b, 1x4, 1x6), M.S. Dhoni (not out) 20 (17b, 1x4); Extras (lb-1, b-2, w-5): 8; Total (for three wkts. in 18.5 overs): 162.
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-79 (Rohit, 9.2), 2-88 (Dhawan, 10.5), 3-118 (Vijay, 13.4).
NEW ZEALAND BOWLING: Southee 4-0-34-0, Kuggeleijn 3.5-0-32-0, Ferguson 4-0-31-1, Santner 2-0-16-0, Sodhi 4-0-31-1, Mitchell 1-0-15-1.
Toss: New Zealand.
Man-of-the-Match: Krunal.
India won by seven wickets with seven balls remaining to level three-match series 1-1.
