Match Details
It was a slowish start by the Indian openers as they scored 36 runs in the first 5.1 overs before Rishabh Pant was dismissed by Lockie Ferguson. This brought Suryakumar Yadav into the crease who was determined to increase the scoring rate of his team. He started to play a counter-attacking brand of cricket and put the bowlers under pressure. Along the way, he was aided by Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, and Hardik Pandya as India reached a monumental total of 191 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in their 20 overs.
At one stage India was well on course to go past the 200 mark, but it was a brilliant last over by Tim Southee which prevented India from doing it. Southee picked up a hattrick in the last over, his second in T20Is. Suryakumar remained unbeaten on 111 off 51 at the end of the 20 overs, it was his second T20I century.
During the chase, New Zealand did not start on a great note. They lost Finn Allen very early and that slowed down their progress. Williamson tried to stabilize the innings and hold together the chase for his team. But the Indian bowlers kept chipping away with wickets. At the halfway stage, the Kiwis were stationed at 71 for 3 and the task ahead looked quite tough.
Williamson completed his 50 but failed to increase the scoring rate for his team at the right moment. Also, the fact that New Zealand kept losing wickets from the other end did not help their cause. At the end of the 20 overs, New Zealand managed to score 126 runs and lost the match by 65 runs.
Williamson was the highest scorer for his team with 61off 52 balls. The pick of the bowlers for India was Deepak Hooda, who picked up 4 wickets for 10 runs from his 2.4 overs.