Rajkot: Opener Colin Munro (109 n o, 58b, 7×4, 7×7) hammered the Indian bowlers all over the park and helped New Zealand win the second game of the three-match T20 series against the hosts by 40 runs here Saturday. The victory enabled the Kiwis restore parity at one-game all after losing the first T20I.
Riding on Munro’s knock, New Zealand scored an imposing 196 for two. Then the bowlers came to the party picking up wickets at regular intervals to restrict India to 156 for seven. Except for Virat Kohli (65, 42b, 8×4, 1×6) and MS Dhoni (49, 37b, 2×4, 3×6) none of the other Indian batsmen got going.
However, again to a certain extent, Dhoni’s slow start made the job difficult for India. He could only score 15 runs in the first 17 deliveries he faced and that put excessive pressure on Kohli. With the required rate going past 16 runs per over mark, Kohli in his attempt to accelerate was caught behind off Mitchell Santner (1/31).
Prior to that however, Trent Boult (4/34), who was taken to the cleaners by the Indian batters in the first game, struck early on, dismissing both Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. On a flat pitch, Boult worked up quite a bit of pace to have Rohit caught behind and Dhawan bowled.
Chasing 197 for victory, the Indian chase never got off, after the early loss of wickets. Kohli and debutant Shreyas Iyer (23, 21b, 4×4) resurrected the innings to a certain extent. However, the quick dismissals of both Iyer and Hardik Pandya (1) affected the chase. At 67 for four, it was all over bar the shouting for the hosts.
Earlier Munro using his bat like a sledge-hammer put on 105 runs for the first wicket with Martin Guptill (45, 3×4, 3×6) to put the Kiwis on a strong platform. Debutant Mohammed Siraj, who was struck repeatedly for sixes by the southpaw and ended up giving away 53 runs for the lone wicket of rival skipper Kane Williamson.
The Indian spinners, Axar Patel (0/39 off three) and Yuzvendra Chahal (1/36 off 4) was taken to the cleaners by both Munro and Guptill.
Press Trust of India
