🏏New Zealand vs India : 1st T20I: VCA Stadium, Nagpur on 21/01/26🏏 - Page 22

Too much for New Zealand this chase. They fought well and even took on India's best two bowlers - Varun and Bumrah but the target was too steep. Conway fell early in the opening Arshdeep over but Phillips was on fire tonight. He struck the ball so cleanly and whenever there was a chance to go for the big hit, he did. Till he was there, there was a slight chance that New Zealand would overhaul this target. And Chapman too hit the ball well. Their partnership kept New Zealand in the hunt but once they went, it was easy after that for India. Bumrah was not at his best and looked rusty. The batting might of India though ensured they had enough in the tank to win easily. Once again Arshdeep the pick and he bowled excellently. What should worry India though is that simple catches were put down and on a big night in a World Cup, could come back to haunt them if that happens again. Stay tuned for the post-match stuff....

Originally posted by: SoniRita

fielding needs improvement i guess. Dropped catches not allowed.

Huge huge improvement.

Rinku Singh (translated from Hindi): There was pressure on me as I was in and out of the team. The plan was to take singles and then go for it. Also to stay till the end. That's what I did. GG sir told me to keep the intent. (on the dropped catch) There was no problem with the lights here, I just dropped one and there is nothing much to worry. We want to take this confidence and momentum forward into the World Cup and win it. I was batting with Arshdeep paaji and the plan was to hit the boundaries when the balls were in our range. (what was the chat with Arshdeep when he played those dots?) Nothing. I just told him to stay still and try and take a single and give the strike to me. Never mind, it happens.

Originally posted by: missFiesty_69

Huge huge improvement.

On a side note, WPL is not happening on days the T20 is happening for India vs nz. Good move I guess

Match summary
After the toss fell their way, New Zealand were unable to put it together with the ball for sustained periods. India did lose a couple of wickets inside the Powerplay, but Abhishek Sharma then took control, while Suryakumar Yadav also showed signs of returning to form. The platform was laid by a 99-run stand, and those who followed kept the momentum going throughout the innings.

In pursuit of a mountainous target, the Kiwis were off to the worst possible start, losing Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra inside the first two overs. From there, they were always behind the eight ball. Glenn Phillips picked up where he left off in the ODI series, but the enormity of the target and the quality of the Indian attack meant that, despite his efforts, the required rate kept climbing and the overs continued to fall below par. Mark Chapman was unable to match Phillips' tempo early in his innings before picking up pace, and one wonders why Daryl Mitchell, who has been in sparkling form, came in as low as number six.

A win set up by the batters and finished off by the bowlers as India take the lead in the series. It wasn't a perfect performance, with a few blemishes in the field, but it was still a convincing effort overall. New Zealand simply had too much to do in the chase, and they will look back at their bowling performance, where they conceded far too many runs.

Originally posted by: SoniRita

On a side note, WPL is not happening on days the T20 is happening for India vs nz. Good move I guess

They have strategically scheduled the matches. Even during Ind vs NZ, ODI game there was no WPL game.

Originally posted by: SoniRita

Even the ODI, we lost the series due to catch drop if I am not wrong

Dropped catches, some costly overs mid innings. Dropped catches hurt us the most! Matlab hadd hai, people claim India as one of the best teams in the world and our fielding efforts are very bad. Kiwis and Aussies have really good fielding which is why they win a lot of matches. I’m not saying they don’t have talent but fielding is given a lot of importance. I wish we did too.

Mitchell Santner, NZ captain: You gotta win, good hit out for us. India's record last two years is outstanding. GP's knock, Chappy's knock I was happy with. We were put under pressure with the ball. Have to be on since ball one against India. Mitchell bowling the final over was how it worked out as they took on spin. Duffy has shown his class. I still like batting at 8, we've got more guys to come in.

Mitchell Santner, NZ captain: Yeah, I think it was. Looking forward, obviously, like you said, you want to win the game. It was a good day for us. India is a very good team at home. We knew that. Yeah, their record the last two years is outstanding. And, yeah, it was a good game for us.

(on bowling Mitchell for the last over) No, it's just how our balance worked out. I think, yeah, I think the way that the inning was put up, the spinners on the pressure, it looked like cutters were holding in the first innings. I think, you know, Kristian Clarke on debut, bowling those quick spinners looked quite tough to handle. It was just, yeah, I think four out in the last over for anyone, it's always a bit hard.
(on Duffy) But yeah, I think he's shown his class over the last few years for us. He's kind of taken that senior bowling role for us and cleans it up top of the mark, I think, going forward, the way you want to slow these guys down to take wickets