Ishan Kishan went on a blitz and skipper Suryakumar Yadav set to rest doubts about his form as India chased down the 209-run target with 28 balls remaining in the second T20I against New Zealand in Raipur on Friday.
The seven-wicket victory gave them a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
One important feature of India’s current T20 team has been their ability to maintain their daredevilry whatever the circumstances. It showed in the way Ishan smashed his half-century of 21 balls.
The home team was reduced to 6/2 within the first seven balls of their innings. Sanju Samson fell to the fifth and Abhishek Sharma departed two balls later.
Abhishek’s dismissal was sure to send shock waves through the ranks since he had been the livewire of their batting in the past few matches. But Ishan showed that he can be equally dangerous and his recent success in the domestic circuit wasn’t an aberration.
Ishan mainly dealt in boundaries and sixes as India raced to 75/2 in the Powerplay overs. None of the bowlers was spared and Surya was a mere spectator to all the mayhem.
The Jharkhand left-hander finally departed for 76 off 32 balls with 11 boundaries and four sixes. The across-the-line swipe off Ish Sodhi ended in a top edge with Matt Henry to grab it. The third-wicket partnership yielded 122 runs off 49 balls.
India needed 81 off 65 balls at that stage. Surya, however, was in no mood to let the advantage slip away. The T20 captain seems to have regained his lost touch at the right time. His sense of relief after reaching his half-century, which came after 23 innings, was obvious. Surya remained unbeaten on 82 off 37 balls with nine boundaries and four sixes. Shivam Dube finished on 36 not out.
“As I’ve said before, I was batting really well in the nets. Everything I did back home over the last two or three weeks helped,” Surya said. “I got a good break to spend time with my family and friends, had good practice sessions, and I’m really enjoying what’s happening right now.”
Arshdeep’s woes
Arshdeep Singh, who has been India’s go-to bowler in this format, had an off day which hurt them badly. He went for 18 runs in his first two overs and then Zak Foulkes smashed him for two boundaries and a six in the final over of the innings. The left-arm pacer conceded 53 runs from four wicketless overs.
While Arshdeep struggled, Kuldeep Yadav showed encouraging signs of return to form with two timely strikes in the middle overs.
Kuldeep played in place of the injured Axar Patel. Harshit Rana got a chance as pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was rested.