Once again, Washington Sundar showed that he is much more capable with the bat than many believe, as the left-hander cracked 37 runs in 16 balls in the first ODI against New Zealand on Friday in Auckland.
Sundar’s quickfire cameo, in the end, propelled India’s eventual total to over 300 and also gave the visitors momentum.
Coming in at number 7 with India’s score at 254-5 in the 46th over, Sundar blasted 3 fours and 3 sixes to stun the New Zealand bowlers.
Sundar first tonked the veteran pacer Tim Southee over wide long-on and then ramped the fast bowler Adam Milne over the third man to get going with 2 sixes in his first 7 balls.
Washington Sundar falls over while hitting a four to Matt Henry
In the penultimate over of the Indian innings, Washington Sundar smoked seamer Matt Henry for 2 fours and a six.
After pulling Henry for a four toward mid-wicket, Sundar played a risky scoop shot. But Sundar had smartly anticipated a yorker outside the off-stump from the pacer as he shuffled across the off-stump, went low, converted the yorker into a low full toss, and hit a brilliant scoop shot.
In the process of playing this outrageous shot, though, Sundar fell on the ground and tumbled on the floor but only after sweetly timing the ball over short fine leg. He had played the shot very late, giving Henry no time to adjust his length.
Sundar finished the over with a thumping pull shot for a six.
Watch: Washington Sundar hit Matt Henry for 4, 4, 6; falls down and rolls over while hitting a scoop:
can you blame us for making the obvious ‘𝐀𝐭𝐢 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫’ pun for this Washi batting video? 😅
Watch the 1st #NZvIND ODI, LIVE & EXCLUSIVE on Prime Video: https://t.co/3btfvTeRUG@Sundarwashi5 #NZvINDonPrime #CricketOnPrime pic.twitter.com/pBVvRBAmZP
— prime video IN (@PrimeVideoIN) November 25, 2022
In the last over as well, Sundar hit Southee over extra cover for a boundary.
Earlier, India had three half-centurions. Shikhar Dhawan (72) and Shubman Gill (50) scored the fifties and registered an opening stand of 124 runs. India then lost a bunch of wickets, but continuing his supreme form in ODIs was Shreyas Iyer with a terrific knock of 80 runs, and cameos from Sanju Samson and Washington Sundar helped India’s score beyond 300.
