New Zealand captain Kane Williamson hailed India’s sensational batter Suryakumar Yadav after he played a match-winning knock to help India upstage New Zealand in the 2nd T20I on Sunday. Playing yet another blistering knock for the Hardik Pandya-led Indian cricket team, SKY smashed a century to enter his name in the record books at Mount Maunganui’s Bay Oval.
The star batter walked in to bat when the Indian cricket team was struggling, however, once SKY was in the middle he took the game by storm. He started from where he left off and started scoring freely instantly. His stunning knock secured India’s comfortable win over the Kiwis in the 2nd T20I. Suryakumar played a terrific knock of 111 not out off 51 balls, which was laced with 11 fours and seven sixes. Suryakumar was also named the Player of the Match for his batting masterclass.
Later, after the match, while reflecting on New Zealand’s performance after the match, Williamson also showered praise on SKY, who proved to be the difference maker in the 2nd T20I. He said:
“It was not our best effort. Surya’s innings was out of this world. One of the best knocks I’ve ever seen. Some of those shots, I’ve never seen before. They were outstanding, we weren’t upto mark. We didn’t get momentum with the ball, didn’t get enough wickets and didn’t get momentum with the bat either,”
In reply to India’s innings, Kane Williamson and Co. only folded for 126 as the hosts lost the match by 65 runs. Expressing his disappointment, Williamson said:
“It was frustrating. Again, I’ll say about Suryakumar, his innings was the difference. It did swing a bit (in the chase) and India did well to get some swing. Important to look at those few areas and improve. Need to look at the small margins. Sometimes, a special innings can happen, Surya is the best player in the world,”
