After dominating the hosts in the first three games and taking an invincible lead, the Indian team took on the Kiwis in the 4th T20I game of theirs. The contest began with the hosts winning the toss and electing to field first. While the Indian team walked in with 3 new inclusions in the form of Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar & Navdeep Saini, the New Zealanders rested Colin De Grandhomme and their injured skipper Kane Williamson.
The visitors sent KL Rahul & Sanju Samson to start the proceedings with the bat, whilst Tim Southee himself took the ball to bowl the first over. After passing the first over with ease and hitting a six in the second over, Samson failed to handle the pressure and eventually threw it away on the fourth ball of the second over. Out came the Indian skipper Virat Kohli who tried to stitch a partnership with KL Rahul but failed to do so, largely due to a stupendous catch by Mitchell Santner at the covers.
Soon after Kohli’s wicket, Shreyas Iyer also got dismissed in an attempt to try a square cut against Ish Sodhi in the first over post powerplay. What followed next were a few good shots by Shivam Dube but ultimately the Kiwis were able to trap dangerous-looking-KL Rahul as well, who departed after scoring a fighting 39. Soon came the wickets of Dube (12) & Sundar (0) as well and the Indian side lost 6 of its batsmen by the end of 12 overs.
Then came Manish Pandey and held India’s batting from one end. The lad steadily raced India to a respectable score after the collapse they had suffered earlier in the game. The Karnataka-born remained unbeaten at the score of 50 and with the help of some invaluable contribution from Navdeep Saini, the duo helped their side to post a defendable total of 165.
People who are already downplaying Sanju Samson after two consecutive failures are the same people who say that Pant should have been backed by the management for more time.#NZvIND
— ` (@FourOverthrows) January 31, 2020
Yup I think a score of 160-175 would have been good to aim first and then hit 190. Now 150 is just about fighting very hard, https://t.co/uKZg6DcyWX
— Nikhil ? (@CricCrazyNIKS) January 31, 2020
“Punish me daddy” pic.twitter.com/3jH21m9uxe
— Divyanshu (@MSDivyanshu) January 31, 2020
Spotted in the stands#NZvIND pic.twitter.com/xv8JlSvABi
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) January 31, 2020
India finishes at 165/8, good total after losing wickets at regular intervals. KL Rahul and Manish Pandey were outstanding, Pandey reached his fifty and some useful contribution from Shardul Thakur and Navdeep Saini as well.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) January 31, 2020
Highest score by an Indian batting at no.6 or below in T20Is:-
52* – MS Dhoni vs SA, 2018
50* – Manish Pandey vs NZ, today
49 – MS Dhoni vs NZ, 2017
48* – MS Dhoni vs AUS, 2012
45 – MS Dhoni vs SA, 2007#NZvIND #stats— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) January 31, 2020
Ball is turning, India in disarray! Now, where have you read that before!
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) January 31, 2020
Manish Pandey:
Last 6 T20I innings – 50*, 14*, 14*, 31*, 22*, 2*
(133 runs without being dismissed)Last 6 T20 innings – 50*, 14*, 14*, 31*, 60*, 3*
(172 runs without being dismissed)#NZvIND— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) January 31, 2020
Fantastic innings by Manish Pandey. Got India to a par total of 165 from 88-6.
Pandey is a much better T20 batsman than Shreyas Iyer. Plays fewer dot balls & has a wider range of strokes. It’s unfortunate that he was slotted below Iyer & didn’t get the chances to perform. #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/awFcCLktrP— Aditya (@forwardshortleg) January 31, 2020
That’s the spirit! ?#NZvIND pic.twitter.com/7NrdYN1Sw8
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) January 31, 2020
