The second ODI of the three-match series between India and New Zealand ended in a no result because of rain. Rain was always going to pose a threat to the match, and the forecasts came true as the match, which was reduced to 29 overs, could see only 12.5 overs being played out.
The game started on time on Sunday at Seddon Park in Hamilton with New Zealand captain Kane Williamson winning the toss and electing to bowl first, same as he did in the first ODI on Friday in Auckland and the hosts ended up chasing down the target of 307 with 7 wickets in hand and 17 balls to spare.
India openers Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill started off steadily before the rain arrived for a long time after 4.5 overs of India’s innings and only 23 minutes of play. After almost 4 hours of halt, the match resumed, now being chiseled down to 29 overs per side.
On the second ball of the resumption, Dhawan got out while trying to play a big shot. Because of a shortened game, the in-form Suryakumar Yadav was promoted to number 3 over Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant.
After taking a few balls to settle in first, Suryakumar Yadav broke his shackles and started dealing in boundaries. From bring 5 (11), Suryakumar Yadav raced to 34(25) with the help of 2 fours and 3 eye-catching sixes.
He hit two boundaries to Lockie Ferguson before clattering one six each to Mitchell Santner, Bracewell, and Ferguson before the rain arrived again and no more play was possible.
Known as India’s 360-degree batsman Suryakumar Yadav flaunted his range as hit smashed off-spinner Michael Bracewell for a terrific reverse sweep sixer. That is was played against the turn made it so audacious from the number 1 ranked ICC T20I men’s batter who is now being instilled in India’s ODI setup too.
Just before Bracewell had released the ball, Yadav had made his shuffling; he’d moved so late that the off-spinner couldn’t change his length or line. His back foot became his front foot now, and he went down on the knee of the new back foot (the original front foot) and swiped across the line. The connection and timing were so sweet that it went deep into the stands over third man.
Here, watch Suryakumar Yadav’s delectable reverse-sweep six here:
His First Reverse Sweep?#SKY#INDvsNZ#suryakumaryadav pic.twitter.com/ydDlAbiKNt
— ॐ//🚩 ||Sandip|| (@_iROCCO) November 27, 2022
