Ranchi. Captain Mitchell Santner’s superb bowling (2/11 in four overs) followed half-centuries from Daryl Mitchell and Devon Conway as New Zealand beat India by 21 runs in the first T20 International of the three-match series. Mitchell hit three fours and five sixes in his 30-ball unbeaten innings, including a four in the last over after hitting a hat-trick six against Arshdeep Singh (1 for 51). New Zealand scored 27 runs from this over.
New Zealand restricted India to 155 for nine after scoring 176 for six. Opener Conway, who scored 138 in the third match of the one-day series, continued his fine form, scoring 52 runs in 35 balls with the help of seven fours and a six.
Apart from Santner, Michael Bracewell and Lockie Ferguson also took two wickets each for New Zealand. For India, Washington Sundar scored 50 runs in 28 balls while Suryakumar Yadav scored 47 runs in 34 balls with six fours and two sixes. Sundar hit five fours and three sixes in his innings.
New Zealand beat India by 21 runs in the first T20I match in Ranchi.
(Photo courtesy: BLACKCAPS Twitter handle) pic.twitter.com/Bkm0sg293i
— ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2023
He also did wonders in bowling, taking two wickets for 22 runs in four overs. Chasing the target, India got off to a poor start. The team lost three wickets for 15 runs in the fourth over. Ishan Kishan (four) was bowled by Michael Bracewell in the second over. In the next over, Jacob Duffy’s ball took the outside edge of Rahul Tripathi’s bat and went into the gloves of wicket-keeper Conway.
Suryakumar Yadav hit a four in the same over as soon as he came to the crease, but on the first ball of the next over, Santner ended the innings of Shubman Gill (seven runs), who was running in excellent rhythm. Suryakumar Yadav hit the first six of the innings against Lockie Ferguson in the fifth over and then four. Skipper Santner bowled a maiden in the sixth over, leaving India at 33 for three after six overs.
Indian captain Hardik Pandya opened his arm in the eighth over by sending Michael Bracewell’s ball to the spectators. From the other end, Suryakumar hit two fours each against Ish Sodhi and Blair Tickner to take the team to 74 for three after 10 overs. Santner gave only one run in the 11th over.
Suryakumar made up for it by hitting a six against Sodhi in the next over but was caught by Allen in another such attempt. He shared a 68-run partnership with Hardik for the fourth wicket. Hardik also lay down the pavilion in the 13th over by giving him a catch off Bracewell. He scored 21 runs in 20 balls. Deepak Hooda (10) was stumped by Santner after which India’s hopes of victory were almost over. In the last over, Washington Sundar hit some good shots but it was not enough to win the team. He completed his half-century in 25 balls by hitting a six against Ferguson in the last over. He was dismissed on the fifth ball of the same over.
Earlier, after electing to field after winning the toss, the Indian bowlers failed to bowl in the right direction as Conway and Phil Allen (35) got New Zealand off to a brisk start. Both shared a 43-run partnership in 4.2 overs, with Allen being more aggressive. He hit four fours and two sixes in his 23-ball innings. He hit fours against Hardik and Arshdeep in the first two overs, which took the team’s score to 23 runs in two overs.
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Allen hit a six on the first ball of the fifth over against Sundar, but Suryakumar Yadav was caught in the process of doing so again. On the next ball, he got India back in the match with the wicket of Mark Chapman (0). Conway, however, took the pressure off Umran Malik by hitting two fours and a six. The New Zealand team had scored 79 runs for two wickets in 10 overs. Conway then hit fours against Kuldeep Yadav (1/20) and Deepak Hooda as New Zealand brought up their century in the 13th over.
However, Glenn Phillips failed to read Kuldeep’s googly and was caught by Suryakumar Yadav at deep midwicket. Daryl Mitchell then arrived to support Conway. He hit two sixes against Hardik after being saved on review against the umpire’s decision of lbw and caught.
Conway, on the other hand, completed his half-century in the 16th over, but soon returned to the pavilion after being caught by Hooda off Arshdeep. Ishan Kishan then ran out Michael Bracewell (one run) while Mitchell Santner had Rahul Tripathi caught by Shivam Mavi (one for 19). The last over was costly for the Indian team in which Arshdeep spent 27 runs. (agency)