END OF OVER:19 | 18 Runs | IND: 204/4 | RR: 10.73
- Shreyas Iyer58 (29b)
- Manish Pandey14 (12b)
- Tim Southee4-0-48-0
- Hamish Bennett4-0-36-0
That's all we have for you. Thanks for joining us. Hope you enjoyed the coverage but for now this is Al Muthu, on behalf of Deiva Muthu and Venkat Raghan, making like a cricket ball and just getting the heck outta here.
Virat Kohli: We enjoyed it. Just landing two days ago and playing a game like this sets it up for the whole tour. We had great support. We had 80% of India fans here and the atmosphere was great. You need that in a 200-plus chase, they help us go further, be braver. We never spoke of jet lag. We don't want to use as an excuse. If we focus on things that aren't important then you're taking attention away. We had a really good series against Australia and we took that confidence in here. You can't be harsh on anyone on this kind of pitch. I think we did well in the middle overs, to restrict them under 210 was a good effort. I think fielding is one thing that we can improve on, just getting used to the ground dimensions and the ball snaking a bit.
Kane Williamson: "A lot of positives out there. We know coming to Eden Park it's hard to defend and there was a bit of dew and obviously India showed their class. We knew batting first we had to get a good total on the board. Being a second-used suface, it was a high scoring game. But with ball in hand, if we could get three or four early, we could have got ahead of the game. We sort of had five bowlers and Colin and I guess with the slower bowlers, in term sfo the treat, it was hard being such a good pitch. They kept putting us under pressure and we found ourselves defending for most of the second half. We have to recover there. It's always important at this ground that when you start you go on."
Shreyas Iyer is Man of the Match. It's amazing coming overseas and it's a really good feeling to win the game and being not out. We had lost two quick wickets and it was really important ot build a partnership. We knew the ground is short and we could cover the run rate at any time. It was an amazing experience, this is my first time at Eden Park, looking forward to the same crowd and the same support again for the next game
11.15 pm That's as good as it gets from India, winning a chase that was more than 10 runs an over an entire over to spare. KL Rahul and Virat Kohli set up the platform, but both men fell in the space of just a few deliveries. India's middle order was exposed again, and exposed to the worst kind of pressure. The required rate was still up near double-digits and without Dhoni, without Pandya, this team has struggled to rise to that challenge.
But Shreyas Iyer here decided to thumb his nose at all that history. His 58 off just 29 balls is the innings of the match, and he barely even looked to be out of second gear. Each of those five fours and three sixes came as a result of clear thinking and one-upping the bowler. If he does becoming India's No. 4 across formats, and I think he will, this is the night that made him. And while he should get all the accolades, do not forget that India's bowlers - led by Jasprit Bumrah - allowed only 25 runs in the last three overs. That was crucial here.
Aravind: "Iyer for MoM though Rahul got a similar score at an equally quick pace. Iyer had the pressure of the end overs while Rahul had the relative luxury of the field restrictions up front."
Deadfish: "Shades of Hobart's Kohli in Iyer today. Sublime Innings"
Naren: "1996: Suddenly there were two young players hitting centuries in test cricket in England. They went on to become Ganguly and Dravid. 2002: Again two young players when India won against all odds in a series final. They went on to become Yuvraj and Kaif, one of them man of the series in two WCs 2020: Two young player, Rahul and Shreyas making a chase look easy. I am sure they are going to play for India for a long time. Different formats, different players, but talent is here to succeed!"
Packie Chan: "Loved the chase! Clinical performance by team India. Wanted to see good partnership from middle order and that's what we got. Hope this middle order only get better and better from here and gets us to #1 in T20 raniings"
Ashok Sridharan: "This Indian win must rank as one of the most extraordinary performances ever. Ever heard of a jetlagged side chasing down a massive target so effortlessly?"
India need 18 off 12 and it's all on Southee here
END OF OVER:18 | 11 Runs | IND: 186/4 (18 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 10.33, RRR: 9.00)
- Shreyas Iyer41 (24b)
- Manish Pandey13 (11b)
- Hamish Bennett4-0-36-0
- Tim Southee3-0-30-0
Raj Patel: "Such a high scoring match and no batsman has scored more than 60 ... Looks like contributions from everyone"
Williamson and Southee in conversation about the field placement...
END OF OVER:17 | 10 Runs | IND: 175/4 (29 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 10.29, RRR: 9.66)
- Shreyas Iyer31 (19b)
- Manish Pandey12 (10b)
- Tim Southee3-0-30-0
- Ish Sodhi4-0-36-2
India need 29 off 18. It's down from two-runs ball and that's usually the point of no return for a batting side. Anything less is doable. NZ were 178 at this point in their innings, then they ran into Bumrah
Vinod Rajpal: "Hey Muthu....Do we have a Super Over if we have a TIE in this match ?" --- Course we do
India need 39 off 24 and Williamson is looking for experience here, going with Southee
END OF OVER:16 | 14 Runs | IND: 165/4 (39 runs required from 24 balls, RR: 10.31, RRR: 9.75)
- Manish Pandey10 (7b)
- Shreyas Iyer23 (16b)
- Ish Sodhi4-0-36-2
- Hamish Bennett3-0-25-0
Kris: "Not yet make or break i feel for Manish Pandey. He needs a longer run for sure...lower down the order in T20s you need to be more patient. He is a clean striker and terrific feilder he needs to go through to the worldcup unchanged in the position"
Ansar: "Make or break situation for Pandey. He has given numerous chance to show what he possess but was incredibly inconsistent. If he doesn't perform, I am sure Pant will come back as a proper finisher. "