IND vs NZ: Mitchell, Santner show Indians a mirror, Sundar's efforts go in vain
New Zealand had a clinical game in Ranchi (Associated Press)
Alas, Washington Sundar's all-round efforts and Kuldeep Yadav's misery with the ball went in vain, as the New Zealanders swept India in all three departments.
Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner and Devon Conway emerged as the heroes for the Kiwis, helping the visitors bank their first victory of this tour.
Mitchell, Conway flexed muscles
If not for Arshdeep Singh's last over of the spell, where he went for 27 runs, New Zealand would have given India a mediocre total to chase in Ranchi. However, that was the template of the first T20I, which has been the tale of games in the format.
Arshdeep and all the other Indian seamers had an off-day with the ball, but captain Hardik Pandya used his out-of-the-box thinking to cease the run-flowing by operating with spinners in the middle overs.
The trio of Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar and Deepak Hooda just gave away 56 runs in their 10 overs, while the pacers went for 119 runs in the rest of ten, taking their economy rate 11.9.
As the Indian faster bowlers leaked runs like a broken tap, New Zealand's Conway and Mitchell swept runs like 'Super Mario' sweeps money in the Video Game. Both these batters batted in the adjacent part of the innings, helping them counterattack against seamers and score their individual half-centuries.
Those fine knocks helped the Blackcaps post a colossal total of 176 runs, which was way out of India's reach at last.
Santner shove India batting
Prior to this match, India had never lost a T20I fixture in Ranchi. The Men in Blue somehow kept that streak going, but the top orders did everything in their capabilities to break that ritual.
The Indian openers - Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill - lost their charm in front of Michael Bracewell's tweak, while Rahul Tripathi went back to the hut after a 6-ball duck off Jacob Duffy.
However, 2022's ICC Cricketer of the Year, Suryakumar Yadav and Captain Pandya had different plans to tackle the Kiwis. The duo started off counterattacking the pacers but respected the spinners.
Sharing a 59-run stand, Suryakumar and Hardik looked to take the game away from the opposition, but a twist awaited them. The former chipped a googly from Ish Sodhi straight to long-on while the skipper miscued one from Bracewell into the hands of the bowler.
With 88 needed off 46 for two new batters was always going to be tough, and the Indian lower-order could help their cause. Mitchell Santner became India's biggest enemy in the chase, as he returned with 4-1-11-2 in a T20I against the top-ranked side.
In the end, Sundar could only throw the kitchen at a few and amassed his maiden T20I fifty, but he could only lessen the loss gap as India lost by 21 runs.
Brief Score
New Zealand - 176/6 (20 overs)
Daryl Mitchell - 59* (30), Devon Conway - 52 (35)
India - 155/9 (20 overs)
Washington Sundar - 50 (28), Suryakumar Yadav - 47 (34)
Mitchell Santner - 2/11 (4), Lockie Ferguson - 2/33 (4)
Result: New Zealand won by 21 runs.
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