IND vs NZ: The New Zealand Cricket team tasted success for the first time in their ongoing tour of India when they defeated Hardik Pandya led the Indian team in the 1st T20I on Friday. The first T20I of the three-match series was played at the JSCA International Stadium Complex as the spinners dominated the outing. India lost the match by 21 runs as Mitchell Santner and co. took a 1-0 lead. Meanwhile, Kiwi batter Daryl Mitchell has lauded a fellow teammate and named him one of the best in business at the moment.
The pitch was a bit of a surprise for both teams. For India, Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar troubled the opposition batters as they spun a web in Ranchi. Meanwhile, for the Kiwis, their stand-in captain Mitchell Santner proved out to be the nemesis for India as he gave runs at 2.80 and took 2 wickets in his 4 overs. Mitchell, who earlier helped New Zealand score 176 in the first innings, stated that Santner is currently one of the best spinners in white-ball cricket.
"He is one of the best spinners in world cricket with the white ball at the moment. He (Santner) keeps proving his class. It was a very special spell by him that put us in a good position to win. He has done it for a long time now, we are very lucky to have him," Mitchell said at the post-match media interaction.
Santner accounted for wickets of in-form Shubman Gill and all-rounder Deepak Hooda as he deceived the Indian batters. He also bowled a maiden over to Suryakumar Yadav in the powerplay as the surface helped him along with his skill to trouble the batters. Earlier, Finn Allen and Devon Conway set a platform for New Zealand. On the initial partnerships, Mitchell said, "I thought the partnerships that Finn and Dev (Conway) did early and obviously Glenn (Phillips) and Dev as well allowed us to take the innings deeper and allowed us to put some pressure on India towards the end of the innings. It was about constantly adapting, trying to find ways to put pressure back on their bowlers."
India were hardly in the chase as the top order was sent back quickly. Suryakumar Yadav and Washington Sundar inflicted some fightback but with the wickets falling and the run rate surging, India fell short by 21 runs. Notably, this is the first match New Zealand have won in their ongoing tour of India. They had earlier faced an ODI series whitewash.
