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New Zealand recovered from an early top-order collapse through half-centuries from Glenn Phillips and Bevon Jacobs before India's bowlers struck back late to restrict the hosts to 180/5 in 20 overs in the second T20I match of the five-match series at Hagley Oval on Saturday.
Glenn Phillips and Bevon Jacobs led New Zealand's recovery after an early top-order collapse against India, setting the visitors a target of 181 runs to win the second match and take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series at Hagley Oval on Saturday. After being put in to bat, New Zealand lost three wickets inside the powerplay, with India's bowlers putting the hosts under pressure. Arshdeep Singh provided the first breakthrough in the second over, dismissing Tim Seifert for seven, who was caught by Tilak Varma. In the very next over, Bhuvneshwar Kumar removed Daryl Mitchell (6) cheaply, while Prince Yadav dismissed opener Finn Allen for 16 with a full-length delivery in the sixth over. New Zealand were left struggling at 43/3 after the end of the first six overs, putting the onus on Phillips and Jacobs to rebuild the innings. Indias Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, and Nitish Reddy further tightened the screws on New Zealands scoring as they could only score 23 runs in the next four overs, standing at 63/3 in 10 overs. However, the duo of Jacobs and Phillips shifted the gears, reaching 104/3 in 14 overs, countering India's bowling attack and preventing further breakthroughs. Phillips brought up his half-century in the 16th over, reaching the milestone in 33 deliveries, while Jacobs also reached his fifty in the next over, off 40 balls as New Zealand reached 145/3 in 17 overs. The batters also brought up their 100-run stand in the same over. Just when the hosts appeared to be taking the game away from the visitors, Arshdeep returned and got rid of Phillips (70 runs off 43 balls with four sixes and four boundaries) in the 18th over. In the next over, bowled by Reddy, Bevon Jacobs slammed a six off the very first ball, but the bowler had the last laugh as he dismissed Jacobs on the fifth ball of the 19th over. New batter Michael Bracewell hit a six off the first ball he faced to take New Zealands score to 171/5 in 19 overs. Prince Yadav bowled the last over and did well to only concede nine runs as New Zealand finished at 180/5 in overs. For India, Arshdeep Singh registered figures of 2/33 in 4 overs, and Prince Yadav returned figures of 1/30 in 4 overs, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar went for runs as he conceded 50 runs for one wicket in his four-over spell. (ANI)
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