At the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur on Friday, January 23, Team India decisively defeated New Zealand by seven wickets to take a 2-0 lead in the current five-match home series. The Men in Blue won the toss and decided to field first.
The best batsman was New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner. The lanky all-rounder bludgeoned 47* runs off just 27 balls. Rachin Ravindra had a good game as well, hauling 44 runs off 26 balls.
The Black Caps set a target at 208/6 in their 20 overs. Kuldeep Yadav bowled best for India in that innings with figures of 4-0-35-2.
The hosts made a disastrous start in the run chase as openers Abhishek Sharma (0 off 1) and Sanju Samson (6 off 5) departed early. In contrast, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan had taken the game away with blistering innings.
Suryakumar finished unbeaten on 82 off 37 balls, while Kishan was removed on 76 from 32 balls. The team achieved the objective in just 15.2 overs. Kishan was named Player of the Match for his destructive play.
Here, we take a look at three moments from the fight that sparked fan interest:
1. India captain Suryakumar Yadav smashes Zakary Foulkes into the cleaners
Suryakumar came back to form with a brilliant batting display. He was at his classy best, scoring a T20I half-century after 468 days.
Foulkes, the New Zealand all-rounder was at the receiving end of Suryakumar’s onslaught. The Indian captain plundered the pacer for four fours and a six in the ninth over of the chase.
Foulkes was in for no easing up when he returned to bowl the 14th. The adventurous batsman was in no mood to stop as he struck one more six and couple of fours. The Kiwi bowler ended up with the atrocious figures of 3-0-67-0.
2. Badrinath – Ishan Kishan’s bat goes flying into the stands at square
The fans got flashbacks of Rishabh Pant, as Ishan Kishan had an awkward bat slip moment after being smacked on the pads. The incident occurred on the third ball of the fifth over.
The southpaw attempted to go big off the left-arm spinner’s bowling. But, he lost his grip on this one and ended up chipping the ball towards square leg.
The incident was captured on video here:
Swing so hard, even the bat couldn’t keep up 🥶#INDvNZ, 2nd T20I | LIVE NOW 👉 https://t.co/Be1n2FWbLQ pic.twitter.com/ETkxEvdEzA
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) January 23, 20263. Hardik Pandya gets angry at Zakary Foulkes’s attempt to be naughty in the middle.
Hardik Pandya was all fired up having bowled Mark Chapman for 10 off 13 balls in the 17th over. Foulkes strode out to the wicket.
He was welcomed by a searing back-of-the-length delivery. The batsman was beaten as he tried to steer the ball to third man. Hardik seemed a little angry and was heard swearing as he turned back..
The series-deciding third T20I will be held on Sunday, January 25 at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati.
