Shreyas Iyer and Shivam Dube failed to accelerate as well as they would have liked but a good little cameo from Manish Pandey in the last few balls somehow propelled India to above 160.
Indias Rohit Sharma (R) bats watched by New Zealands Tim Seifert (L) during the fifth Twenty20 cricket match between New Zealand and India at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on February 2, 2020. (Photo by MICHAEL BRADLEY / AFP)
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, India have managed to post 163/3 runs on the board in their quota of 20 overs. Rohit Sharma, who was leading the Men in Blue instead of a rested Virat Kohli, came in to bat at number three on Sunday at the Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui to accommodate the opening duo of Sanju Samson and KL Rahul at the top.
However, Samson failed to capitalise on yet another opportunity given to him and was dismissed in the second over itself after scoring just 2 runs. Scott Kuggeleijn got him caught at the covers to give New Zealand an early breakthrough.
Post Samson’s dismissal, Rohit and Rahul came together to stitch a handy partnership. While early on Rahul was the aggressor, Rohit took a little bit of time before he got going as runs started to come easily for the Indian duo. The duo added 88 runs for the second wicket before Rahul was dismissed by Hamish Bennett.
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Shreyas Iyer then joined skipper Rohit in the middle and it looked like India would run away with the match especially with the form Rohit was displaying but he picked up a calf injury and was forced to retire hurt.
Iyer and Shivam Dube, the new partners in the middle, failed to accelerate as well as they would have liked but a handy little cameo from Manish Pandey in the last few balls somehow propelled India to above 160.
For the Kiwis, Kuggeleijn and Bennett were the pick of the bowlers as they not only picked up 3 wickets between themselves but conceded 21 runs and 25 runs respectively.
It remains to be seen if the Kiwis can reach the target and save themselves from the embarrassment of a clean sweep.
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