(Cricket news) India defeated New Zealand by 65 runs in the 2nd T20I. After the first match was rained out, the 2nd one became a must win. India now are guaranteed to at least walk away with a tied series. Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to bowl first. The home side left Blair Tickner and Michael Bracewell on the bench while India went in without Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson, Umran Malik, Kuldeep Yada and Harshal Patel. While the other calls were pretty much expected but Shubhman Gill is one player who was expected to make his debut but India went with Ishan Kishan and Rishabh Pant at the top.
Batting first India managed to get to a formidable total of 191/6 in 20 overs. Even though Ishan Kishan had a good cameo of 36 off 31 balls, the Indian innings was carried by Suryakumar Yadav. The batter continued his incredible year by scoring his 2nd T20I century. SKY scored 111 off just 51 balls which single handedly helped India get to a good total. He hit 11 fours and 7 sixes in his monstrous innings which once again showed people why he is the best T20I batter in the world. It was a good performance by SKY but it shouldn't take away from the fact that 6 other Indian batters failed to get going. Lockie Ferguson picked up 2 wickets while Ish Sodhi got 2 scalps. Tim Southee took a hat-trick in the last over in which he managed to keep Suryakumar Yadav off strike which in turn saved a few runs.
New Zealand never looked in the chase as Kane Williamson was the only guy who crossed the 30 run barrier as he scored 61 off 52 balls. Williamson hit 4 fours and 2 sixes but he didn't have enough support from the other end. Mohammed Siraj and Yuzvendra Chahal got 2 wickets each while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Washington Sundar got a scalp each. Deepak Hooda showed his ability with the ball as he picked up 4/10 in his 4 overs. His bowling performance is a big plus but India need to back his bowling more in the future as there have been a lot of times where he hasn't been given the ball. New Zealand in the end were bowled out for 126 runs.
India's performance with the ball was an incredible one but the management will want to see more from their batters other than Suryakumar Yadav. It is unlikely that there will be any changes in the XI especially considering that one game got rained out. New Zealand will try and level the series in the next match. However they will have to do so without their skipper Kane Williamson who has a medical appointment. Tim Southee will be leading the team and Mark Chapman has been added to the squad.
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