Post New Zealand’s 7-wicket loss in the second T20I on Sunday, skipper Kane Williamson credited the Indian bowlers for restricting the hosts to a below-par score and making the match almost a one-sided affair by the interval.
A brilliant bowling effort by Indian bowlers at the Eden Park in Auckland restricted New Zealand to 132 for 5 in 20 overs on Sunday. The Indian bowlers made New Zealand batsmen toil hard for runs and the consequences saw the Kiwis remain contented with a paltry target on the board.
Tim Seifert (33* off 26) and Martin Guptill (33 off 20) were the top-scorers for New Zealand. Meanwhile, for India, Ravindra Jadeja, who returned figures of 2 for 18, was the most successful bowler, whereas Jasprit Bumrah ended with 1 for 21 in his 4 overs. Shivam Dubey and Shardul Thakur claimed a wicket each.
“Credit to the Indian bowlers for the way they restricted us, credit to the Indian side that put us under pressure and outplayed us in all the departments,” said Williamson as quoted by IANS.
Williamson felt that New Zealand should have scored 15 to 20 runs more to set a competitive target for India.
“It was a tough day and the wicket was quite different from the first game. As a batting unit, we needed probably another 15-20 runs more for a competitive total,” the skipper added.
Chasing a mediocre target of 133 runs, India lost the wickets of Rohit Sharma (8) and Virat Kohli (11) early and got reduced to 39 for 2. But Man of the Match KL Rahul (57*) along with Shreyas Iyer (44) stitched 86 runs for the third wicket to end hosts’ chances of making a comeback.
India, who had won the first T20I by 6 wickets, lead the five-match series 2-0. The third match between the sides will be played on January 29 at the Seddon Park in Hamilton.