101/4 (19.5)
CRR : 5.09
99/8 (20.0)
CRR : 4.95
India won by 6 wickets 🏆
Player of the Match
Player
26(31)
Washington Sundar: "Everybody watching at home and in the stands was on edge, just like we were, praying that India would cross the finish line. (Thrillers with low ratings) It's extremely thrilling. Only two to three of every ten games are as good as this. It's amazing that we continued to win this game since it all comes down to skill. (Runout) In no way. It was crucial that SKY stick around to the conclusion. Such things do occur in the game, so yes."
Time for the post-match presentation.
Mitchell Santner (New Zealand Captain): "It was a great game of cricket. To get so close to the game was a great effort from our bowlers. The calmness of Surya and Hardik did the job for India. I was wondering if Lockie could bowl off-spin. It's a tricky one. With the bounce out there, it looked challenging and we were not sure what a good score was. I think 120 was a good score on that surface."
Trusted player of the match: Arshdeep Singh.
Game changer of the match: Hardik Pandya.
Powerplayer of the match: Yuzvendra Chahal.
Hardik Pandya (India Captain): "Not really, I always believed that we'll be able to finish the game, but it went quite late. I went inside to check on the boys and make sure they were quiet. You shouldn't be alarmed; the goal was to rotate the strike rather than to apply pressure. We decided to keep it simple rather than take any chances. However, it was a shocking wicket, let's face it. I'm all for slow pitches, but these two are not suitable for 20-over cricket. They must make sure to maintain it ready and prepare it. Apart from that, I am content. Even 120 would have been a winning total given how the game ended up. We continued to take wickets, but the bowlers stuck to their strategies.
Washi's bowling was a blatant indication that the surface would favour spinners. They eventually had to take risks and play a lot of dot balls, which is when we grabbed a few wickets. Dew had no impact since, as you can see, they had greater ball-spinning ability than we had. Deliveries from the quick bowler were also flying. It didn't turn slowly at all. To determine the optimum position for us to play from, we were only playing the ball."
Washi's bowling was a blatant indication that the surface would favour spinners. They eventually had to take risks and play a lot of dot balls, which is when we grabbed a few wickets. Dew had no impact since, as you can see, they had greater ball-spinning ability than we had. Deliveries from the quick bowler were also flying. It didn't turn slowly at all. To determine the optimum position for us to play from, we were only playing the ball."
Player of the Match: Suryakumar Yadav.
Suryakumar Yadav (Player of the Match): "You can call it a different version of SKY tonight. Adapting to the conditions was key there. After the departure of Washi, it was important for me to stay till the end. (On Sundar's wicket) It was my fault. I didn't see where the ball went. It was a challenging wicket and adapting was the key. We needed one hit in the last over. We tried to stay calm. Whenever I missed the ball, he came up to me and asked to me stay calm and vice versa. With one required, he asked me to finish the game and that gave me confidence."
That brings an end to our coverage for this game. Do join us for more cricketing action all around the globe. For now, this is Akshay Bhide, signing off, on behalf of my co-commentator Deepak Prakash and scorer Paras Yadav. Bye Bye. Good Night.