New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first, but the decision backfired on them as they struggled to score runs and managed to put up a mere 99 on the board for the loss of 8 wickets in 20 overs. Mitchell Santner fought hard for the Kiwis and contributed 19 runs to the team’s total. Meanwhile, Arshdeep Singh scalped two wickets for India, with Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal also picking up a wicket each.
The one wicket that Kuldeep took was of Daryl Mitchell, the Player of the Match in the previous game. It all happened on the last ball of the 10th over, when the left-arm chinaman bowled an absolute ripper of a turning delivery to Mitchell, which the latter failed to defend completely and got clean bowled. After the dismissal, the New Zealand all-rounder was seen in shock following the sudden movement of the pitch while Indian teammates celebrated the wicket.
Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan expressed their joy by running up to Kuldeep and lauding the 28-year-old over his phenomenal delivery.
Here’s the video:
In reply to New Zealand’s below-par total, India also struggled with the bat and failed to score quick runs. However, the Men in Blue chased down the set target with just one ball remaining courtesy of Suryakumar Yadav’s resilient 26 runs knock. Kishan (19) also contributed to the host’s six-wicket series-levelling victory. On the other hand, Michael Bracewell and Ish Sodhi scalped one wicket each for the visitors.
With India winning the second T20I, the next and final scheduled match at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday ( February 01) will now be a series decider.
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