At Ranchi’s JSCA International Stadium Complex, New Zealand defeated India in the first T20I by a score of 21 runs. The grip and turn the pitch offered surprised India, said to skipper Hardik Pandya, who also acknowledged that his team paid a price for letting New Zealand score an excessive number of runs.
India’s hitters struggled to handle the spinners as they attempted to chase down New Zealand’s 176/6, managing only 155 for 9. “Both teams were shocked by how this pitch played; yet, New Zealand played stronger cricket. Compared to the old ball, the new ball was rotating more. We were startled by the way it spun and bounced “During the post-game presentation, Pandya said.
When they had a small partnership going, Suryakumar Yadav (47) and Hardik Pandya (21) had sparked hope of a successful chase, but all expectations were destroyed when both left in rapid succession. “Up until we started batting, Surya and I believed we could succeed. In retrospect, we saw that we over the par by 25 runs.” Washington Sundar excelled for India, taking two wickets for 22 runs then coming back to score a 50 off of just 28 deliveries, albeit in a losing cause.
“It was more like Washington playing against New Zealand than it was like India playing against New Zealand in terms of bowling, batting, and fielding. The Indian cricket will benefit greatly if he and Axar can keep acting in the same manner.”Mitchell Santner, the skipper of New Zealand, added that the way the ball spun in the second innings came as “a bit of a shock” to everyone.
“But it was a great game and it was pretty tight at the end, we saw a lot of runs in the ODI series and it was nice to see the ball spin a bit more,” he said.
