Team India were given a big jolt when they went down to New Zealand in the first T20I, on Friday in Ranchi, by 21 runs.
On the back of fifties from Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell followed by superbly controlled bowling spells from the spin duo of captain Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell, New Zealand took a 1-0 lead in the 3-T20I series.
This loss, and the timid manner of it, has left the fans, and perhaps even the players, a bit taken aback. Especially given that India had dominated their home season 2023 so far with ODI and T20I series wins over Sri Lanka followed by a white-wash of New Zealand in ODIs.
India’s haven’t lost a home series for almost 4 years now. The last series India lost at home was back in March 2019. Now, New Zealand, with a 1-0 lead, have a great opportunity to snap India’s home-dominant streak when the two teams meet in the second T20I.
Where will be the India-New Zealand 2nd T20I played?
India and New Zealand will clash in the 2nd T20I in Lucknow, at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium.
What is the time for India vs New Zealand 2ndt T20I?
The IND vs NZ 2nd T20I will be played on Sunday and the match will start at 7.00 PM IST.
After the loss, Hardik Pandya admitted that the behavior of the pitch took everyone by surprise. At the toss, Pandya had said it looked a good track to bat on and elected to bowl first. However, from the third over of the match, the pitch showed its true colors: helping spinners with turn and bounce.
“I don’t think no no one even thought that this wicket would play like that,” Hardik said at the post-match presentation. “Both teams kind of got surprised, but think they played better cricket on this [pitch], and that’s the reason the result ended like that.
“Actually, the ball was turning more with the new ball than the old one. And the way it spun and the way it was getting [that] bounce, I think it kind of caught us by surprise…As I said, it was a surprise wicket, but they just played little better cricket than us.”
