Auckland: Mahendra Singh Dhoni watched (20 n o) from the 22 yards distance as his heir apparent Rishabh Pant (40 n o, 28b, 4×4, 1×6) showed spunk in a tricky situation, guiding India to their maiden T20 International victory on New Zealand soil here Friday.
The seven-wicket triumph was set up by skipper Rohit Sharma (50, 29b, 3×4, 4×6) in company of Shikhar Dhawan (30, 31b, 2×4) with a 79-run opening stand after Krunal Pandya (3/28) restricted the hosts to 158 for eight.
“Very pleased to see how we bowled, and we were quite clinical with the bat as well,” Rohit said in the post-match presentation.
Dhoni couldn’t have been happier as he saw Pant control what could have been a tricky 159-run chase. The series is now tied 1-1 with the decider to be played Sunday in Hamilton.
The 44-run stand between the mentor and his successor was very significant as Indian cricket slowly moves towards a change of guard in coming days.
Pant’s one-handed six off Tim Southee or the bowler’s back drive off Scott Kuggeleijn to finish off the match were reminiscent of Dhoni’s best days.
While bowling, Krunal enhanced his already growing reputation as a steady short format bowler with three important breakthroughs. He dismissed Colin Munro (12) and skipper Kane Williamson (20) to peg the Black Caps back early in the innings.
In between, Krunal also got the controversial wicket of Daryl Mitchell (one), who fell prey to an umpiring howler, when ‘Hotspot’ showed a clear inside edge onto the pads.
However, Colin de Grandhomme (50, 28b, 1×4, 4×6) then counter-attacked, scoring a blistering half century. He added 77 runs for the fifth wicket with Ross Taylor (42, 36b, 3×4)
Once De Grandhomme was sent back to the dug-out by Hardik Pandya (1/36) and Taylor was run-out, New Zealand’s chances of a big total went up in smoke.
However, it was the dismissal of Mitchell that once again raised the ‘Spirit of Cricket’ debate even though it was a clear case of an umpiring howler by TV umpire Shaun Haig.
Krunal angled one into Mitchell, who got an inside edge onto the pads. The on-field umpire adjudged him leg before and he promptly asked for DRS.
As the giant screen showed that a faint edge could be detected by ‘Hotspot’, to everyone’s dismay, Haig pressed the red button to signal out. After that, it was left to India captain Rohit Sharma to call the player back but he didn’t do so.
Young Khaleel Ahmed (2/27) polished off two wickets in the end. He and Bhuvneshwar Kumar also bowled 18 dot balls between them.
Brief Scores: New Zealand 158 for 8 (Colin de Grandhomme 50, Ross Taylor 42; Krunal Pandya 3/28, Khalil Ahmed 2/22) lost to India 162 for 3 in 18.5 overs (Rohit Sharma 50, Rishabh Pant 40 n o) by seven wickets.
PTI