Sports News
India clinches six-run win in an eight-over shoot out
Chahal and Bumrah put the skids on the New Zealand chase in the deciding, rain-hit T20I
India clinched a six-run win in the third game to notch up its first-ever Twenty20 series victory over New Zealand in front of a sell-out crowd at the Sports Hub on Tuesday.
The final encounter of the three-match series for the Paytm Trophy — limited to eight overs a side following a three-hour delay owing to rain — was a nerve-wracking affair.
Kane Williamson was lucky with the spin of the coin for a third time in a row, and India was limited to 67 for five, leaving the visitors with an asking rate of 8.38.
The Kiwis were able only to get to 61 for six in the allotted overs.
Openers Martin Guptill and the dangerous Colin Munro never got going and were dismissed cheaply. Guptill missed the line of a Bhuvneshwar Kumar delivery in the final ball of the first over while Jasprit Bumrah had Munro caught just outside the circle, with Rohit Sharma pulling off a stunner, holding the catch at full stretch.
The screws were further tightened by Chahal who gave hardly anything away, and the single over from Kuldeep which saw two dismissals off successive deliveries: Williamson was run out, and Glenn Phillips caught by Shikhar Dhawan at deep midwicket.
Under pressure from the mounting run-rate, the Kiwis capitulated as the Indians pressed hard in the final two overs.
Earlier, the Indian innings too never got the acceleration it needed as none of the batsmen stayed long enough to get to a reasonable score.
On a new pitch, the Indian openers were left with no choice but to get going rightaway. Dhawan and Rohit hit a boundary each in the first couple of overs, but both were accounted for by Tim Southee off successive deliveries in the third.
Virat Kohli carted Ish Sodhi for a boundary and a six off successive deliveries, but perished in the same over, caught by Trent Boult at midwicket. Shreyas Iyer did not last long too.
As the Kiwis went through the overs quickly, Manish Pandey emerged the top-scorer of the innings with 17, while Hardik Pandya remained unbeaten with 14.
Southee and Sodhi finished with two wickets each.
The weather, as expected, had a huge impact on the game, as the start was delayed by close to three hours. What had started as a slight drizzle around 3 p.m. turned into a downpour soon after.
With around 90 minutes remaining for the 7 p.m. start, the downpour stopped, enabling the ground-staff to move in and press the two SuperSoppers into service to dry out the surface.
Frustrating wait
After the outer covers were removed, the heavens opened up yet again and a steady drizzle ensured that the covers remained in place before the skies finally cleared, 73 minutes beyond the scheduled start.
The fans, who swarmed the stadium since day break, were initially hesitant to take their seats due to the weather, but almost every spot was taken as time wore on. Despite the frustrating wait, the crowd remained sporting, and it was a big relief for the officials and spectators when the game finally got underway.
