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Following his side's six-wicket loss in a low-scoring second T20I against India, New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner admitted that getting extra 10 to 15 runs could have made a difference in the match.
Star batter of India Suryakumar Yadav and captain Hardik Pandya held their nerves to guide India to a hard-fought 6-wicket victory over New Zealand in the second T20I encounter here at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Sunday. "It was a great game of cricket. To get it so close was a great effort from the bowlers. If we had got an extra 10 or 15, it could have been the difference. The calmness of Surya and Hardik to get them over the line was pretty good. We bowled 16 or 17 overs of spin, definitely something different. With the bounce out there, it looked challenging. You are not sure what a good total is. 120 might have been a good score. The rotation might have been the difference," said Santner in a post-match presentation. Opting to bat first, New Zealand could put up only 99/8 in their 20 overs. Indian spinners dominated the Kiwi batters right from the start and scoring runs was extremely hard for the visitors. Skipper Mitchell Santner (19) top-scored for Kiwis, nobody could touch the 20-run mark. Mark Chapman and Michael Bracewell also managed 14 runs each. Pacer Arshdeep Singh (2/7) was the pick of the bowlers for India. Spinners Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Hooda and Kuldeep Yadav took a wicket each. Pandya also took a wicket. During India's chase of 100, the pattern of bowler's dominance continued and Men in Blue were down 70/4 in 14.3 overs. Openers Ishan Kishan (19) and Shubman Gill (11) continued their disappointing run with the bat. Then it was Suryakumar Yadav (26* off 31 balls) and Pandya (15* off 20 balls) who formed a match-winning stand of 31 runs to take India across the line. Suryakumar was chosen as the 'Man of the Match' for his calm and composed knock. India has the series level at 1-1. The decider will be played on Wednesday in Ahmedabad. Brief Score: New Zealand 99 (Mitchell Santner 19, Michael Bracewell 14, Arshdeep Singh 2-7) vs India 101-4 (Suryakumar Yadav 26*, Ishan Kishan 19; Michael Bracewell 1-13). (ANI)
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