After losing the first T20I match by 53 runs in Delhi, New Zealand finally made a massive comeback in the series and defeated India by 40 runs in the 2nd match at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on November 4. With Colin Munro’s 2nd T20I century, the Kiwis successfully post a massive total of 196 runs which India failed to chase and lost the game. After this match, the series is leveled 1-1 while the decider is to be played on November 7 in Thiruvananthapuram.
Earlier today, New Zealand won the toss side for the 2nd time in this series and opted to bat first. Kiwi openers Martin Guptill and Colin Munro provided a perfect start to the team as they went on to add 105 runs for the first wicket. India got the first breakthrough in the 12th over when Guptill lost his wicket to Yuzvendra Chahal. Soon, the guest had another blow as their skipper Kane Williamson went back to pavilion after losing his wicket to debutant pacer Mohammed Siraj.
However, Munro kept the show on and hammered the Indian bowlers like never before. In just 58 balls, he played a phenomenal inning of 109 runs which included 7 sixes and 7 fours.
In order to chase a huge target of 197 run, Indian star opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma stepped into the field. Unlike the previous match, the opening duo failed to impress yet again as Dhawan (1) was clean bowled by Trent Boult in the second over. In the last ball of the same over, Boult hunted down Rohit Sharma (5) and pushed the Indians to back foot for a while.
Shreyas Iyer was sent to bat at number 3 who even put all his efforts to balance the innings along with skipper Virat Kohli. He began his inning with smashing the first ball four and went on score 23 runs off 21 balls. However, his confident batting soon came to an end after he was caught and bold by Colin Munro.
Once again the most happening Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya disappointed the Indian cricket fans with his batting and was out after scoring just 1 run.
India were reduced to 67/4 when wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni came into bat at number 6. Batting alongside Dhoni, Kohli showcased a classic batting performance and became the 2nd highest run-getter in T20Is after Brendon McCullum even before getting his 18th T20I fifty. Kohli, during this inning, became the only Indian batsman to score 7000+ runs in twenty20 cricket and went past Afghanistan’s Mohammad Shahzad in terms of hitting the most number of fours in T20Is.
Till 15th over, it seemed that the duo 0f Dhini and Kohli would manage to bring the Indian inning back on track and take the game home. Unfortunately, the Indian skipper lost his wicket in the 17th over and ended up scoring 65 off 42 deliveries including 1 six and 8 fours.
In the 18th over, Boult struck again and removed Axar Patel (5) while Dhoni and Bhuvneshwar kept on chasing the target o7 197 runs. In the final over, Dhoni also lost his wicket while playing on 49. After the end of 20 overs, India fell short of 40 runs and lost the 2nd match.
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