The Indian cricket team led by Hardik Pandya has taken the lead of 1-0 in the 3-match T20I series against New Zealand after defeating the hosts in the second T20I which was played at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui. The first T20I was abandoned because of rain without even a ball being bowled.
The number 1 T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav played a pivotal role in India’s win as he played a brilliant knock of 111 runs not out for which he played only 51 balls and his innings included 11 fours & 7 sixes. The toss was won by the hosts and they decided to bowl first, the Indian team started with a new opening pair of Ishan Kishan and Rishabh Pant as senior players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been rested for the series. Though both Ishan and Pant have opened the innings earlier yet with different partners and once again Rishabh Pant failed to make an impact as he got out for just 6 runs. Ishan played a useful innings of 36 runs (31 balls, 5 fours & 1 six) but no other Indian batter was able to play a good innings and the visitors posted a total of 191/6 in their 20 overs.
In reply, the Kiwis could manage only 126 in 18.5 overs and lost the match by 65 runs as other than skipper Kane Williamson (61 runs, 52 balls, 4 fours & 2 sixes), no Kiwi batter could pose any challenge to the Indian bowling. Deepak Hooda was the pick of the bowlers for the Indian side as he took 4 wickets in 2.5 overs and gave only 10 runs.
As expected, Suryakumar Yadav was adjudged as the Player of the Match for his beautiful innings and while speaking at the post-match press conference, the Indian batter hoped that soon he would be a part of India’s test squad as well. He says that when a cricketer starts playing cricket, he begins playing with red ball and since he has also played first class cricket for Mumbai so he understands the format and enjoys it playing too.
The 32 years old cricketer got selected in the Indian squad just 20 months back despite performing well in the domestic level and the IPL for almost a decade. SKY also talks about his past and says that he keeps on revisiting it whenever he is in room or travelling with wife and they both discuss how things have changed in the last 2 years. He added that undoubtedly he was frustrated at that time but still he tried to bring out positive things from that phase and made an attempt to figure out how he could become a better cricketer.
Suryakumar Yadav further said that after that phase, he tried to do things in a different manner such as taking good sleep, eating healthy food, having quality training sessions, etc. which benefitted him in reaching where he has reached today.
The third and the final T20I of the series will be played tomorrow at Mclean Park, Napier, and both the teams will try their best to win this match, because a win for the Kiwis will level the series but a win for the Indians will make them win the series by 2-0.