New Zealand vs. India – One Hell of a Decider
New Zealand vs. India – One Hell of a Decider
People are increasingly of the opinion that T20s being shorter in format and involving much more intense action, will in the near future, replace ODIs are the most watched and followed form of cricket. Of course, Test matches are still considered as the highest and purest form of cricket. However, in terms of popularity, T20s are fast catching up and possibly in the near future will be the most favoured format. IPL and other similar tournaments are increasingly getting more viewers both at the ground as well as on television/online.
Given this situation, there could not have been a better advertisement for ODIs than the India-New Zealand decider played last Sunday.
High stakes for both the teams
Coming into the match, the stakes were high for both the teams. There was plenty to win and a lot to lose as well. For the home team, India, it was an opportunity to extend their winning run with Kohli at the helm and have seventh consecutive bilateral series under their belt since June 2016. Then, there were also individual milestones to reach for a few Indian players. But, most importantly, India had to go all out to keep its 100 percent home series win record against New Zealand intact. For the kiwis on the other hand, it was a chance to create history and of course, improve on their consistency as a team.
The decider
In addition to all the expectations of the two teams and their respective followers, the match had all the ingredients required for an intense and nail-biting game of cricket. A large, vocal Kanpur crowd, a good batting pitch, fast outfield, exciting stroke play, couple of high class centuries from two of the top batsmen in the game today and a high 300 plus score in the first innings. The stage was set for an exhilarating second innings and a heart stopping finish.
And, gosh, it was all there and kept everyone riveted till the last ball was edged to the boundary.
It must be said that India had the opportunity to bat the kiwis out of the game but they could not capitalise on it. Till the 30th over they were on par to get to a total in excess of 360. However, they lost some key wickets and with that the momentum. They could only score 85 runs from the last 10 overs.
The second innings
The Black Caps, none the less, had a stiff target in front of them which was always going to be stiffer than it seemed owing to the intensity with which this new and young Indian team plays.
Colin Munro started off very well and got stuck into Bhuveneshwar Kumar (our very own brilliant Bhuvi). Thanks to that, Kiwis got off to a blazing start and mostly kept themselves ahead of the run rate. However, unfortunately for them, Indians also kept on getting important breakthroughs every time it seemed that the game was slipping away from them. First Munro got bowled by the excellent leg spinner, Chahal, who then got the better of another set batsmen, Captain Williamson. The procession of set batsmen getting out at the wrong time continued.
The tragedy
Still, New Zealand was on course for their first bilateral series win in India. But it seemed that the fate was against it. A tragedy happened and the Kiwis lost the plot in the last four overs.
The prolific run scorer for the Kiwis, their wicket keeper batsmen Tom Latham, got stranded mid way owing to a silly confusion with his batting partner and was run out. Mitchell Santner tried his best to retrieve the match and hit Bhuvi, who was looking to redeem himself in the final overs, for a six. But that was all he could hit. Bumrah, bowled a couple of very tight death overs and that sealed the match for India.
In the bowling department, Chahal and Bumrah were the standout performers. It was their spell which decided the winner of this Paytm ODI series.
T20 now
New Zealand has to pick itself up for the three T20s starting from tomorrow, i.e. November 1, 2017 and the Black Caps do have a very good T20 side. After the last match, the expectations for similar or even better performances from both the sides will be sky high. The T20 series promises to be another scintillating watch.
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Good one…