It's not a sight you get to see very often when two high quality sides meet in a T20I game. India and New Zealand played out a very different kind of a contest in Lucknow on Sunday (January 29) where no sixes were hit the entire evening. The ball touched the boundary ropes only 14 times in the game and both the teams combined to send down an incredible 30 overs of spin. Eventually, it was the hosts who prevailed in a tight contest chasing down a target of 100 with a ball to spare.
The false start
New Zealand were never in control with the bat despite Finn Allen flicking Hardik Pandya for a boundary in the very first over. Washington Sundar's introduction at the other end gave a clear indication of what to expect on the surface and that prompted Hardik to introduce Yuzvendra Chahal in just the fourth over. That ploy worked as Allen attempted a reverse sweep, only to miss the ball as it crashed into the stumps after hitting his leg. Devon Conway endured a similar fate as he too attempted a reverse sweep, this time off Washington, only to get a glove as Ishan Kishan completed an easy catch. Those two wickets put them on the backfoot as New Zealand made only 33 in the powerplay.
Spinners strangle New Zealand
What followed was a barrage of spin. Hardik had seen enough in the powerplay and brought on Deepak Hooda and Kuldeep Yadav into the attack to make full use of the conditions. They didn't disappoint as Glenn Phillips found his stumps rearranged after another reverse sweep didn't yield the desired result. Kuldeep then got one to turn a mile to clean up Daryl Mitchell as India took full control.
Source: https://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/125338/india-prevail-in-spin-dominant-contest-to-level-series
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