11:29pm And...breathe. A stunning run-chase, and India have now secured this series. Still two matches to go, though, along with a ton of cricket elsewhere around the world - all of which can be followed on Cricinfo. Oh, and you can also indulge in these games (which has been plugged below). Until next time, from Harshith and myself (Shashwat), it is goodbye. Take care, folks!
Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Zaheer Khan, Andy Flower....Do they have anything in common? Find out in today's MATCHUP.
You can easily guess the WORD PLAY today if you have the will to do it.
Do you know this former Sri Lanka captain who turns 49 today? Head to KNOW YOUR CRICKET.
Abhishek Sharma, Player of the Match: (Key to his hitting) Key was pretty much simple - that me and Vaibhav enjoy our time. When we were fielding, we saw there was some extra bounce (and that we could target the shorter side). Vaibhav started off well, and we took the momentum from there. It is not that easy, but it is down to the preparation. Huge shoutout to our coaching staff and our side-arm (bowlers). We had a good practice session yesterday and I just wanted to use it. I manifested this innings, and it happened. (On Yuvraj's playful jibe on social media that Abhishek has still not gotten a 12-ball fifty) I have said this before. I don't know what cricket he was playing at the time (smiles). If anyone wants to go out and bat like that, it is not easy. It is not easy to get a fifty in 12 balls. But we do not think about that, we want to just win the match for our team.
Shreyas Iyer, India captain: It was pleasing to the eye. When me and Sanju went out, the ball was swinging and we were like - how did they (the openers) manage it. Getting 100 in five overs, have not seen that before at the international level. (Message to play fearlessly) It is essential. Coming overseas, you will be challenged. Credit where it is due and the way they played is exceptional. Two more to go, I hope they keep continuing this form. Glad how the lads turned up (with all the travel and jet lag), and it is just mind-boggling. When we were bowling hard lengths or full, we were going for runs. So I told them to go for yorkers. That helped us to keep them under 10 runs per over, and our plan was to keep them under 200.
Mitchell Santner, New Zealand captain: Tough to stop those guys. We have seen it in the IPL and witnessed it here tonight. (On the batting) Did a little bit early with the ball. Daryl and Jacobs, getting that partnership in. 200 is a good score. They (India) bowled well at the end. When the dew comes in, it is tough. Powerplay is such a massive part of this game and they showed us how to bat. Batting has been firing nicely. Different guys stepping up, so that is good. (What they could have done differently with the ball and why he did not bowl sooner) Watched Axar in the first innings and there was not a lot there. Tried Bracewell and they played it very well. Just looking for ways to stop them. We now go to Eden Park, which is an even smaller ground, so we need to find ways (of stopping India)
11:10pm That escalated rather quickly, didn't it? India shuffled their opening pack and promoted Sooryavanshi to open alongside Abhishek. And they did not disappoint. Not one bit. In fact, they pushed the imagination and made those watching (and perhaps playing) what more could be possible in this already frenetic format. Sooryavanshi fell short of his fifty, but Abhishek kept blazing away to get to his 11th T20 ton, which has now taken him past Virat Kohli on that metric. Shreyas and Samson fell before the finish line was crossed, but the result never seemed in doubt. And that was only due to Abhishek and Sooryavanshi.
An incredibly tough day at the office for NZ. At the half-way stage, it felt they were below-par, and as India got going, it felt they were maybe a 100 short. Santner's decision to hold himself back was also perplexing, especially with everyone else travelling. Not sure if that would have made much of a difference, but NZ will go back to their hotel rooms tonight, knowing they have been blitzed out of the water by the world champions.
Mahesh: "After all is done and dusted, Naman Dhir ends up with the best strike rate (400) among all batters!" -- Abhishek, eat your heart out!
Dhir on strike
SV Samson b Jamieson 18 (36m 13b 2x4 0x6) SR: 138.46
END OF OVER:13 | 4 Runs 1 Wkt | IND: 195/3 (4 runs required from 42 balls, RR: 15.00, RRR: 0.57)
- Sanju Samson18 (12b)
- Tilak Varma1 (1b)
- Mitchell Santner3-0-17-1
- Kyle Jamieson3-0-41-1
Tilak joins Samson
SS Iyer c Phillips b Santner 5 (11m 10b 0x4 0x6) SR: 50
Alex: "If England were playing as India from here on, they probably would find a way to loose this match from here." -- England unnecessarily catching strays...
Anupam: "Three consecutive dot balls made my eye twitch."
Sudhakar: "Proof of Santner's control - Eco 6.5, rest others 16.5 and above " -- Which makes that decision to bowl even more puzzling. Anyway, here he is again
END OF OVER:12 | 6 Runs | IND: 191/2 (8 runs required from 48 balls, RR: 15.91, RRR: 1.00)
- Sanju Samson16 (10b)
- Shreyas Iyer4 (7b)
- Kyle Jamieson3-0-41-1
- Mitchell Santner2-0-13-0
Saurabh: "India is struggling against only Santner in the last two matches and he came to bowl when the match is over" -- 0.15 percent chance on the predictor still. Hang on!
