Kishan blitz floors New Zealand as India chase 208 with ease as they romped home with 28 balls to spare from 6/2.
Kishan and Suryakumar lay down marker in astonishing chase.
Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan demonstrated the capabilities of contemporary T20 hitters. India chased 209 in just 15.2 overs in the second Twenty20 International against New Zealand in Raipur thanks to Kishan’s 76 off 32 balls and Suryakumar’s 82 not out off 37. With seven wickets remaining, India achieved their joint-highest successful chase in Twenty20 Internationals despite being 6 for 2 after 1.1 overs.
New Zealand had also gotten off to a scorching start after being put in in damp circumstances. Each of their top five hit more than 140, despite only one of them surpassing 25. Mitchell Santner’s 47 not out off 27 balls helped India reach 208 for 6 after a brief comeback in the middle overs. Santner stated that they most likely needed 300 during the post-match presentation. He was only half-kidding.
Only six runs were scored between Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma. Had Conway not parried the ball across the boundary line and knocked down Samson at deep square leg off Matt Henry, the score would have been zero. However, Samson was caught at mid-on in the same over because he was unable to take advantage of the reprieve. When Abhishek flicked Jacob Duffy to deep square leg, he was out for a first-ball duck. This time, Conway did not make a mistake.
At that time, New Zealand was a clear favourite. Kishan, though, had different thoughts. In the third over, which also included three wides and a no-ball, he struck Zak Foulkes for three fours and a six. Abhishek’s record for the fastest T20I fifty by an Indian hitter against New Zealand was surpassed by Kishan, who reached his fifty off just 21 balls. India was sitting well at 75 for 2 by the end of the powerplay.
Kishan also benefited from Santner and Ish Sodhi turning the ball into the left-hand batsman. From each of them, he hit a six. The necessary rate had dropped to 7.36 by the time Sodhi made a mistake in the tenth over.
Suryakumar insisted that he was simply out of runs rather than out of form during his batting slump last year. He also scored runs in this game. When he got 32 off 22 in the first Twenty20 International, there were indications of it. He appeared almost at his best here. At first, Kishan had little striking since he was going crazy. However, it also gave him the opportunity to take his time; in the eighth over, he was on a run-a-ball ten before sweeping Santner over short fine leg for four.
After that, the runs came in a torrent. He hit four fours and a six off Foulkes in the following over. Kishan did not allow the score rate to decline even after he fell. In 23 balls, he reached his fifty, his first in 24 Twenty20 International innings, and blasted boundaries via the off side as well as behind the wicket and on the leg side. He was also fortunate.
Santner dropped a dolly on 64, Mark Chapman parried a challenging opportunity across the boundary line on 43, and a leading edge on 70 narrowly avoided backward point. However, you would think he deserved some. In the company of Shivam Dube, who scored 36 not out off 18, he took India into a 2-0 series lead.