NZ vs IND, 2nd T20I: India 191 for 6 (Suryakumar 111*, Kishan 36, Southee 3-34) beat New Zealand 126 (Williamson 61, Hooda 4-10, Siraj 2-24) by 65 runs

On Twitter, Virat Kohli referred to it as “another video game innings,” and with good reason: Suryakumar Yadav faced just 51 balls and scored 111 unbeaten runs out of the team’s 191 total, hitting 11 of India’s 18 boundaries and seven of their nine sixes. Suryakumar helped India score 72 off the final five overs in a fantastic display of his fearless and creative T20 hitting. This despite the fact that Tim Southee scored a hat trick in the final over and did not face a delivery. 

Suryakumar experimented with an international bowling lineup that Hardik Pandya just watched from the opposing end. And with only 192 to go, New Zealand’s chase began by crawling: Their powerplay produced just 32 runs and only three goals, which may have provided them with the perfect foundation for failure; And with Glenn Phillips out at 85 for 3 after 12 overs and the required run rate of more than 13 an over, the match was almost decided.

HIGHLIGHTS

Suryakumar defies logic, the bowling, and everything else

Suryakumar’s second T20I century of the year was perhaps unique in that it came in a winning cause. He is already the highest run-getter in T20Is in 2022, making this an important year for him.

Even though Suryakumar had been bowled for two deliveries in a row before the fourth ball, he pulled out his signature scoop and hit it over the wicket keeper’s head for four. Common T20 stuff: swing and miss, but no concern for the subsequent ball.

After Rishabh Pant fell for a low score for which he had jostled, Ishan Kishan continued to struggle, but Suryakumar knew he had to go one way, especially with the rain in the air. The remainder of India’s batting scored 69 runs in as many deliveries, including 11 extras, indicating how far ahead of Suryakumar his teammates were.

His first six came from Mitchell Santner, who snatched a ball from far outside and swept it over fine leg after he caught it. The lofts on the opposite side followed: Ish Sodhi’s first ball of the 12th over was placed to deep extra cover with high elbows, and Santner’s first ball of the 11th over was scythed behind point.

However, Suryakumar had given Lockie Ferguson special treatment: He drove and whipped the fast bowler for fours and sixes with eight overs remaining and India’s total still below 100.The first act of Suryakumar vs. Ferguson was that.

In the 16th over, Suryakumar hit fifty off 32 balls and, with time running out, got in Southee to start the 17th: despite the assistance of a misfield, a six was swung across the line over midwicket and a whip to the same area for four. He got used to thrashing at a short ball outside off after two balls, even though he had made room early.

Runs came from everywhere

Whips and flicks over fine leg, inside-out lofts over cover and mid-off, andThe foundation for Suryakumar vs. Ferguson’s Act 2 had been established: In the 19th over, 4, 0, 4, 4, 4, 6,His hundred off 49 balls came from the third boundary, but three other shots were jaw-dropping: After opening the bat face very late, the first four was sliced over short third, the fifth was tickled over the wicketkeeper despite the short length and the ball rising close to his shoulder, and the sixth was flung over short third once more as he opened the bat face to a length that appeared to be too full to even try.

New Zealand limp in big chase

To score 61, Kane Williamson used 52 balls. The fact that India’s powerplay new ball swung significantly in their favor, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar throwing out Finn Allen’s second pass, did not help matters either.

After the first six overs, New Zealand’s required rate had soared past 11 and they only showed signs of attacking after that. Williamson and Devon Conway scored 17 runs in Washington Sundar’s first over, but Conway was run out on the first ball of the ninth, giving him a manageable 25 runs off 22 deliveries.

Glenn Phillips hit his first ball for four and even threw a six off Yuzvendra Chahal to show early aggressive intent. However, in the tenth over, Chahal teased him by slowing down the pace on the ball, and Phillips ended up going for 12 off six balls.

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Not a single boundary was hit between Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham and Mitchell Santner for 33 balls after that six from Phillips, by which time, New Zealand’s destiny was almost fixed. After 17 overs, they were 111 for 6 and Williamson hit his fifty off his 48th delivery.

With the outcome clear, Deepak Hooda bowled the penultimate over, dismissing Sodhi, Southee, and Adam Milne in four deliveries to end the hosts’ timid day.