(Cricket news) India came into the T20I series high on confidence but New Zealand have stung back. The Black Caps dismantled India to win by 21 runs in the opening T20I at Ranchi. Captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to field first keeping the dew factor in mind. As expected Prithvi Shaw, Mukesh Kumar and Jitesh Sharma were left on the bench. The in-form Kuldeep Yadav was preferred over Yuzvendra Chahal as the pure spinner. New Zealand brought in Mark Chapman and Ish Sodhi into the side as captain Mitchell Santner went with 3 spinners.
Batting first New Zealand managed to get 176/6 in their 20 overs. Finn Allen gave the Kiwis a fiery start as he scored 35 off just 23 balls. The seamers weren’t getting much help so Hardik Pandya brought on Washington Sundar. The off spinner bowled an incredible spell of 2/22 as he made the most of the spin friendly conditions. Sundar varied his pace and length really well as he swung things in India’s favour. Devon Conway continued his great form as he scored 52 off 35 balls including 7 fours and a six. Daryl Mitchell was the star of the show as he scored 59 off 30 balls hitting 3 boundaries and 5 maximums.
Chasing 177 runs, India kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. Suryakumar Yadav scored 47 off 34 balls but even he didn’t look like his usual self. He hit 6 fours and 2 sixes but wasn’t as smooth as he usually is. Washington Sundar played a good knock as he got 50 off 38 balls hitting 5 fours and 2 sixes. The pitch had even more turn in the 2nd innings which not even the players expected as India in the end fell short by 21 runs. Captain Hardik Pandya said that they conceded 20-25 extra runs as the pitch wasn’t a 180 run pitch.
