New Zealand vs India 2020 | 2nd T20, Auckland: 3 standout players from the game
India defeated New Zealand in the 2nd T20I at Auckland and in the process, took a 0-2 lead in the five-match series. Batting first, New Zealand only managed to score 132 runs for the loss of 5 wickets. The visitors chased the total down easily and won the game by 7 wickets.
It was a dry wicket at Eden Park and Kane Williamson's decision to bat first felt like the wrong one as the hosts have an inexperienced bowling attack. India are a brilliant chasing side and they will never really mind chasing a score down on any kind of pitch. Now that the Men in Blue have taken a 0-2 lead, Williamson will have to go back to the drawing board and come up with a better strategy on 29th January for the third T20I.
Here, we are going to take a look at the three standout players from the match.
#3 Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja has been in the form of his life over the past couple of months and on Sunday, he was India's best bowler. The 31-year-old gave away just 18 runs from his four overs, picking up two important wickets of Colin de Grandhomme and Kane Williamson.
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Jadeja is absolutely lethal on a dry wicket that has bounce and it was seen again at Eden Park as he was turning the ball square on a couple of occasions, while others were just holding their line. And as always, Jadeja was good on the field as well.
#2 Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer is proving the team management's decision to make him India's number four right. He has been incredible on that spot over the past couple of months and he is showing no signs of stopping. Against New Zealand on Sunday, he wasn't timing the ball really well but he made sure to stay put on the wicket and build a much-needed partnership with KL Rahul.
The 25-year-old scored 44 runs from 33 balls, with one four and three sixes. Although he couldn't see his team home, Iyer continued his rich vein of form from the 1st T20 and if he keeps on going like this, Virat Kohli might have to stop looking for a number four.
#1 KL Rahul
KL Rahul has been a class apart in the T20 format for India and he scored his 2nd consecutive half-century in this series on Sunday. The Karnataka batsman remained not out for 57 from 50 balls, with three fours and two sixes.
This was a really mature display from the 27-year-old as India needed a partnership when Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were dismissed early and Rahul knew that he cannot afford to lose his wicket. Even though he wasn't at his best, the Karnataka batsman did what was asked of him and that was to step up and win his team the match.
Also read: New Zealand v India 2020 | 3 key player battles that will define and decide the T20I series