Blistering knocks by skipper Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan led India to a crushing seven-wicket win over New Zealand on Friday, giving them a 2-0 lead in the five-match T20 series.
Chasing 209 for victory, India rode on a 122-run third-wicket stand between Kishan (76) and Suryakumar, who made an unbeaten 82, to achieve the target with 28 balls to spare in the second match in Raipur.
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India head into the third match on Sunday in Guwahati with an eye on the series, which is a warm-up ahead of the T20 World Cup starting on February 7 in India and Sri Lanka.
The left-handed Kishan, who returned to the Indian team in the opener after two years, lifted the hosts from 6-2 with a string of boundaries.
Kishan was named player of the match and Suryakumar was all praise for his comeback star.
“I don’t know what Ishan had for lunch in the afternoon or what pre-workout he had before the game, but I’ve never seen anyone bat at 6 for 2 in that manner and still end the powerplay around 67 or 70,” Suryakumar said.
“I thought it was incredible. Chasing 200 or 210, this is what we want from batters — to go out there, express themselves, be happy in their own space. And that’s exactly what he did today.”
He reached his fifty in 21 balls with a four and kept up the charge until his departure off leg-spinner Ish Sodhi. Kishan struck 11 fours and four sixes in his 32-ball knock.
Suryakumar reached his first fifty in the format for 468 days — and 23 innings — after which he raised his bat and looked up to the skies amid the applause.
His previous half-century was against Bangladesh on October 12, 2024. Suryakumar, who hit nine fours and four sixes in his 37-ball blitz, and the left-handed Shivam Dube, who struck 36, put an unbeaten partnership of 81 to pulverise the opposition.
Matt Henry and Jacob Duffy took a wicket each in the first two overs before Zak Foulkes conceded 24 runs off the third over, which started with a no ball for four and three wides.
– Valiant Santner –
Earlier, New Zealand posted 208-6 with skipper Mitchell Santner hitting an unbeaten 47 off 27 balls in a late blitz by the number seven batter.
New Zealand started strongly with opener Devon Conway and Tim Seifert taking on the opposition attack in a quickfire 43-run stand.
Medium-pace bowler Harshit Rana dismissed the left-handed Conway for the fourth time in successive white-ball matches to start with a maiden wicket. Conway made 19 off nine balls.
Wicketkeeper-batter Seifert, who made 24, soon followed his opening partner back to the pavilion as he fell to Varun Chakravarthy’s spin.
Glenn Phillips kept up the attack in his brief stay of 19 runs and, after his departure, the left-handed Rachin Ravindra took the lead in his 44 off 26 balls.
India struck regular blows including two to left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav but New Zealand batters kept up the pace and Foulkes finished with a six and a four, but the effort was not enough to challenge India.
“When you come up against a side that bats deep on a really good wicket, that’s the way India have come out — with intent from ball one,” said Santner.
“I guess they have a licence for every batter. For us, it’s about trying to squeeze wherever we can. But on the flip side, we also know we probably have to go a bit harder, knowing that 200 or 210 isn’t enough anymore.”
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