Chahal, Bumrah help India edge eight-over shootout
India completed a 2-1 T20I series win after their bowlers defended 67 in a decider shortened by rain to eight overs a side
India completed a 2-1 T20I series win after their bowlers defended 67 in a decider shortened by rain to eight overs a side
Scorer: Chandan Duorah | Commentator: Nikhil Kalro
11.00pm That was an exceptional game of defensive bowling. The pitch gripped and turned, but terrific bowling from both sides meant only 128 runs were scored in 16 overs. New Zealand just needed a few more fours or sixes, but they just couldn't get enough away. India's bowlers were superb again, and take the series with a disciplined bowling performance. New Zealand were not bad, nowhere close, they were decent with the bat, but were found just short eventually.
Jasprit Bumrah is the Man of the Match and the Man of the Series: "The slower ball was gripping, after the first inning, Bhuvi and I had a chat about what will work. We saw they were gripping the ball, but our slower balls were not gripping. If you think about pressure, you won't be able to deliver."
Virat Kohli: "We were happy to get a game eventually. An exciting game. We expected them to give us a good fight, we were quite nervous as to whether we could get enough on the board. You need games to step up and finish off games, the guys showed character. When Pandya was hurt, I thought I may have to bowl those four deliveries."
Kane Williamson: "It was quite hard to know what a good score was on that surface. A tough match. A tricky surface. Runs on the board was handy. India outplayed us, although it came down to the last 2-3 deliveries. We showed good fight throughout, played smart cricket, but you need to be at your best to win here. That's why this team is possibly the best in the world. A number of strides forward for us as a group."
Hardik Pandya: "Will feel the pain after the game. I knew in the seventh over that I'll be bowling the last over. I knew I had to keep calm. Important to have a calm mind, one or two will go here and there.
Yuzvendra Chahal: "The wicket suited the bowlers, you have to handle the pressure. I've bowled in so many games like this. Whole team backed me, I calculate accordingly what the batsmen will do."
India coach Ravi Sahstri: " You'd be lying if you said you're not up for it. The balance can shift with 2-3 deliveries. There was electricity there while fielding. We thought we could do it, we aimed for 65, anything more was a bonus."
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Rajeev Kumar: "Interestingly India won both the deciders(ODIs, and T20I) by 6 runs"
8 off 1.
A six and a four will do for NZ. Point goes back. Expect another cutter wide outside off?
The skill of the bowlers and the faith imposed in them has allowed India to defend totals against strong batting line-ups and fight back from some losing positions
India have their batting top order and bowling department covered, and a solution to their middle-order muddle could put them on the way to becoming one of the best T20 sides in the world
The India captain defended MS Dhoni emphasising the latter's fitness despite his age, and his contributions and importance to the side
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said the team will have to improve on clinching the small margins in close matches, after they lost both the ODI and T20I series deciders in India by six runs
India completed a 2-1 T20I series win after their bowlers defended 67 in a decider shortened by rain to eight overs a side