Wellington: Both India and New Zealand had their campaign ended in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup that ended this month. In such a situation, when both the teams will clash in the three-match T20 series starting today, they will come down with the intention of a new beginning.
New captain Hardik Pandya is also going to be tested in the series. The last time India toured New Zealand, they had a clean sweep of 5-0. It remains to be seen what Pandya, who is going to take command in the absence of experienced players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Lokesh Rahul, does this time. The first match will be played in Wellington from 12 noon Indian time.
What happened here last time?
An International T20 match is going to be held at Sky Stadium after 20 months. India has played all the three matches against New Zealand at this ground, winning only once. Twice the Man in Blues has faced defeat. When India last toured New Zealand in the year 2020, they won a Super Over thriller in Hamilton to take an unassailable 3-0 lead on the series. The fourth match of the series was played in Wellington.
The match went in the super over
In Wellington, the fourth T20I of the series also went to a Super Over. Even in this exciting match, the Indian team was able to win. India were in trouble after losing the toss. Six wickets had fallen for just 88 runs in 11.3 overs. Then Manish Pandey scored an unbeaten 50 in 36 balls to take the score to 165/8. Ish Sodhi (3/26) bowled brilliantly for the Kiwis.
Tremendous over from Shardul Thakur
In reply to the 166-run target, Tim Seifert and Ross Taylor took New Zealand to a comfortable victory. Only 11 runs were needed from the last 12 balls with seven wickets in hand. Navdeep Saini gave only four runs while bowling tremendously in the 19th over.
Now the hosts needed seven runs in the last over. Shardul Thakur came to bowl the last over. He dismissed Ross Taylor (24) and Daryl Mitchell (4), while Tim Seifert (57) and Mitchell Santner (0) were run out. The match went into a super over for the second consecutive match of the series.
This is how Team India won
In the Super Over, India restricted New Zealand to 13 as Bumrah did wonders with the ball. Captain Rohit Sharma was resting in this match. Sent KL Rahul and Kohli to chase the target. Before getting out on the third ball, Rahul hit Tim Southee for a six and a four.
He got out on the third ball. Now four runs were required from three balls. With the strike change, Kohli was now ready to face the ball. He won the match for India by hitting a double and a four. Shardul Thakur, who contributed with both bat and ball, was named player of the match for his all-round performance.