After winning the opening T20I against New Zealand by four wickets at Hagley Oval, Christchurch by four wickets, Indian captain Shreyas Iyer said, “Probably we’ve got to forget about the jet lag now.”
A win certainly helps, but both teams won’t need to travel as they will play the second game of the series at the same venue. Both India and New Zealand were sloppy in the field by their high standards and the fielding coaches of both teams will have a task to give their players as much practice as possible. Moreover, both teams would look to come up with an improved bowling performance.
India is expected to back the same playing combination and thus Naman Dhir and Nitish Kumar Reddy will need to complete the fifth bowler’s quota.
Sanju Samson played a fine knock of 67 runs off just 33 balls in the run-chase of 226, whereas Naman Dhir added the finishing touches with a 15-ball 42 cameo.
On the other hand, Glenn Phillips was brilliant for the Kiwis, scoring 82 runs off just 40 balls. However, New Zealand bowlers were not up to the mark in the second innings.
Head-to-head: Matches: 32, Won by India: 20, Won by New Zealand: 11, Tied: 1.
India’s T20I squad: Shreyas Iyer [c], Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson [wk], Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan [wk], Tilak Varma [vc], Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav
New Zealand T20I squad: Mitchell Santner (C), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Josh Clarkson, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Bevon Jacobs, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert, Nathan Smith, Blair Tickner
