Following his side's hard-fought six-wicket win over New Zealand in the second T20I, star India batter Suryakumar Yadav admitted that a different version of him was on display while batting as he had to adapt to the situation on a "very challenging wicket". Star batter Suryakumar Yadav and captain Hardik Pandya held their nerves to guide India to a hard-fought 6-wicket victory over New Zealand in the second T20I encounter at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Sunday.
"A different version of SKY (Suryakumar Yadav's nickname) today. Adapting to the situation was very important when I went to bat. After losing Washy, it was important for someone to take the game to the end. (On his mix-up with Washington Sundar) It was my mistake, it was definitely not a run, I did not see where the ball was going. It was a challenging wicket. We did not think it would turn this way in the second innings but it is important to adapt. We just needed one hit in that over and it was very important to calm our nerves. Before we got the winning runs, he (Hardik) came and told me 'you are going to finish on this ball' and that gave me a lot of confidence," said Suryakumar in a post-match presentation.
Opting to bat first, New Zealand could put up only 99/8 in their 20 overs. Indian spinners dominated the Kiwi batters right from the start and scoring runs was extremely hard for the visitors.
Skipper Mitchell Santner (19) top-scored for Kiwis, nobody could touch the 20-run mark. Mark Chapman and Michael Bracewell also managed 14 runs each.
Pacer Arshdeep Singh (2/7) was the pick of the bowlers for India. Spinners Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Hooda and Kuldeep Yadav took a wicket each. Pandya also took a wicket.
During India's chase of 100, the pattern of bowler's dominance continued and Men in Blue were down 70/4 in 14.3 overs. Openers Ishan Kishan (19) and Shubman Gill (11) continued their disappointing run with the bat.
Then it was Suryakumar Yadav (26* off 31 balls) and Pandya (15* off 20 balls) who formed a match-winning stand of 31 runs to take India across the line.
Suryakumar was chosen as the 'Man of the Match' for his calm and composed knock.
India has the series level at 1-1. The decider will be played on Wednesday in Ahmedabad.
Brief Score: New Zealand 99/8 (Mitchell Santner 19, Michael Bracewell 14, Arshdeep Singh 2-7) vs India 101-4 (Suryakumar Yadav 26*, Ishan Kishan 19; Michael Bracewell 1-13).
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