IND vs NZ | Kishan-Surya show to fore as India equal their highest successful chase in T20Is

‌Ishan Kishan made great use of his opportunity in the middle while Suryakumar Yadav struck form at the right time as India hammered New Zealand by seven wickets in the second T20I in Raipur on Friday. Kishan smashed 11 fours and four sixes during his 32-ball 76 while the Indian skipper remained unbeaten on 82 off 37 balls, with nine fours and four sixes, powering India to equal their highest successful chase in T20Is. Earlier, Kiwi skipper Mitchell Santner led a collective batting effort with an unbeaten 27-ball 47 to help the side to 208/6 before the marauding duo made it look meaningless.

After being asked to bat first, the Kiwis fired on all cylinders with openers Devon Conway smashing three fours and a six off Arshdeep Singh’s first over. Meanwhile, Tim Seifert mounted further misery on the left-arm pacer with four consecutive boundaries in his next over as the Kiwis surged to 43/0 in just three overs. But the home side struck back immediately taking out both openers in the next two overs. Harshit Rana dismissed Conway for the fourth time in five matches while Varun Chakravarthy had Seifert miscuing to Ishan Kishan at short mid-wicket. However, Rachin Ravindra and in-form Glenn Phillips ensured that the Kiwis ended the powerplay without losing another wicket. The pair added 55 runs for the third wicket before a mini-collapse saw them slipping from 98/2 to 129/5 with Phillips, Daryl Mitchell and Ravindra, who had four sixes and two fours in his 26-ball 44, all back in the hut. But captain Santner saved the side its blushes with his unbeaten knock, that had six fours and a six, to take the side past the 200-run mark. Meanwhile, Kuldeep Yadav was the pick among the Indian bowlers with a spell of 2/35 in four overs, with all the other bowlers except Arshdeep Singh and Abhishek Sharma getting a wicket each.

The Indian chase began on a sorry note with both openers Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma going back cheaply inside two overs with the score reading just six. However, the Men in Blue found new heroes in Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav who sent the Kiwi bowlers on a leather hunt. Kishan was the aggressor early on as he smashed three fours and a six in a 24-run over from Zak Foulkes to open the floodgates. The southpaw hit five more boundaries in the next two over from Jacob Duffy and captain Santner to put the hosts on the ascendancy. The Jharkhand batter then took on a returning Matt Henry to bring up his fifty in just 21 balls, rewriting Abhishek’s record for the fastest fifty against New Zealand in the last match. A huge 21 run over off the pacer meant India finished the powerplay at an imposing 75/2. However, there was no stopping Kishan even after spin was introduced from both ends and the fields spread. He took on Santner and Ish Sodhi as the home side flew past the 100-run mark in just the eighth over. Meanwhile, after an initial period of restraint captain Surya also joined in with four boundaries and a six in a 25-run over off Foulkes, who hada night to forget. Though Ishan departed in the next after a 122-run stand for the third wicket, Surya remained in the middle, completing his half-century in 23 balls. From then on there were no hiccups as the Men in Blue closed off the chase convincingly, reaching 209/3 with more than four overs to spare. Shivam Dube gave his captain company to the finish line with an 18-ball 36, while Duffy, Sodhi and Henry had a wicket each amidst all the battering the side received.

Dropped!

— Alexandra Rodrigues (@R37389Alexandra) 

Sky!

- came at 8/2

- entire pressure on him

- underperforming since past 1.5 years

- no 50 in last 23 innings

- 209 run chase

- prime NZ bowling of Santner, Phillips, Duffy and Henry



Then Mr. 360 SKY scored 82*(37) guiding India to a comfortable win 🫡  

— Kohlights (@76off83_) 

Expensive!

Foulkes in record book

— KVSS (@kvsmanian1411) 

Heavly!

🚨Zak Foulkes: 67(18) brillant innings  have cooked heavily in auction 😡



🤣New member of   

— lokesh logu (@lokeshl33240061) 

haha!

Missed the second innings. Looks like Henry and Foulkes upset some CSK fans 😂

— S (@SJ4CSK) 

Let's see!

Jamie Overton & Zak Foulkes definitely cannot be played I don't know what Fleming seen in them.

— Vallavan 👑 (@VallavanCricket) 

Oh!

Zakary Foulkes ----- Out

Bevon Jacobs --- in



🙂‍↔️🙂‍↔️🙂‍↔️ 

— Abhisek Maity (@Abhiiii__1802) 

Lol!

Top three innings from today's match:

-Zak Foulkes: 67(18)*

-Ishan Kishan: 76(32)

-Surya Kumar Yadav: 82(37)* 

— TukTuk Academy (@TukTuk_Academy) 

Expensive Over!

Zakary Foulkes: 3 overs, 67 runs.



Ishan Kishan and Surya Kumar Yadav, have you no shame hitting a young kid from CSK like that? I know you're from Mumbai Indians, and that's why you're taking your frustration out on him.   

— Neeraj (@NeerajY00859341)