India has now taken 2-0 lead in teh ongoing five-match T20I series against New Zealand after they convincingly chased down 132 runs in the second T20I at Eden Park, Auckland on Sunday with seven wickets in hand. The men in blue could not get to a good start as they once again lost the wicket of their deputy skipper, Rohit Sharma, cheaply. The tourists dealt another big blow as Indian captain Virat Kohli could only score 11 runs.
Both the talismanic Indian batsmen were dismissed by Tim Southee as the Kiwis spearhead scalped a couple of wickets and conceded just 11 runs in his first three overs.
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However, the in-form KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer made sure that India went past the chasing total with 15 balls to spare as they added 86 runs for the third wicket. Both the right-handers kept on scoring odd boundaries and rotated the strike with guile to keep the chase on the right path. New Zealand had another opportunity to run-out KL Rahul but they once again spilled it and he made most of the chance and continued his purple patch to bring up his back to back fifty.
Earlier in the day, India restricted New Zealand to 132-5 after Kiwis skipper Kane Williamson won the toss and decided to bat first. Shardul Thakur provided the first breakthrough when Martin Guptill looked to cleared the in-field but holed out to Indian captain Virat Kohli at mid-off.
Kohli took another stunning catch when Colin Munro could not get any timing when he looked to clear the off-side but only managed to spooned it to the Indian skipper. New Zealand just could not break the shackles as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
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Ravindra Jadeja picked a couple of good quick wickets provided two quick wickets when Colin de Grandhomme gave a simple caught and ball back to the bowler. Kane Williamson looked to change the gear after making 14 from 19 balls but his slog-sweep against Jadeja found Yuzvendra Chahal at deep fine leg.
Ross Taylor also meandered to 18 runs off 24 balls and Jasprit Bumrah was able to get the veteran batsman as Rohit Sharma took a good catch in the deep. The Blackcaps keeper-bat Tim Seifert added some respectability to the hosts’ score as he contributed 33 runs from 26 balls with the help of one four and two maximums.
Brief Scores:
India – 135/3 i 17.5 overs (KL Rahul: 57*, S Iyer: 44; T Southee: 2/20) defeated New Zealand – 132/5 in 20 overs (M Guptil: 33; R Jadeja: 2/18, J Bumrah: 1/21) by 7 wickets and 15 balls to spare
Here is how Twitter reacted to India’s win:
Anyone scared that @ImRo45 and @imVkohli haven’t fired yet? #NZvsIND
— Mitchell McClenaghan (@Mitch_Savage) January 26, 2020
The support at Eden Park for India makes it seem like Eden Gardens. Amazing consistency from KL Rahul , and Shreyas Iyer getting better with each game. But a special mention to the bowlers today- Shami, Bumrah , Jadeja were top class. Clinical win #INDvsNZ pic.twitter.com/hhIcoMzLP7
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) January 26, 2020
लगातार दूसरे मैच में जड्डू ने तगड़ी गेंदबाज़ी की। 2 wickets in 4 overs and conceded just 18 runs! Only bowler who didn't give a four or six in his bowling! Outstanding effort by @imjadeja helped India keeping New Zealand very quiet in the middle overs. #NZvsIND pic.twitter.com/n3smkRcPDe
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) January 26, 2020
Brilliant bowling performance by team India. Real contarst from the first game. Simple but Good plan to ball slightly shorter length to use bigger boundaries on the side. #jadaja #bumrah #shivam #shami #shardul #chahal
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) January 26, 2020
Excellent adaptation to the conditions … and execution from the #TeamIndia bowlers today #INDvsNZ
— subramani badrinath (@s_badrinath) January 26, 2020
While we mention @klrahul11 and @ShreyasIyer15 this game was won by the bowlers. @imjadeja a superb effort and @MdShami11 @Jaspritbumrah93 were both terrific not to forget the last power play over from @imShard
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) January 26, 2020
KL Rahul's first two T20Is as wicketkeeper:
56 vs New Zealand, 24 Jan 2020
57* vs New Zealand, 26 Jan 2020KL Rahul is now the 1st player to score fifties in first two matches as a wicketkeeper in the history of T20I cricket. #NZvIND
— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) January 26, 2020
KL Rahul’s last five T20I innings:
91, 45, 54, 56, 57* (Today)
Well Played Champ👏#KLRahul #NZvsIND pic.twitter.com/UXbgamhhub
— Akshay KINGDOM 🦁 (@akshay_kingdom) January 26, 2020
