Team India batter Suryakumar Yadav continued his staggering run of form in 2022 in the shortest format as he dominated once again amidst yet another batting struggle for all the other Indian batters as he single-handedly helped the Men in Blue begin the three-match T20I series against New Zealand with a win after the opening game was washed out due to rain.
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson won the toss and chose to bowl first in overcast conditions in Mount Maunganui in the second T20I on Sunday, November 20. New Zealand bowlers were able to keep the the new Indian opening pair of Ishan Kishan and Rishabh Pant quiet before Surya, coming in at No. 3 made everyone applaud for him, not for the first time this year.
Surya started slow, unlike his natural game, but recovered quickly to destroy the famed Kiwi bowling attack to pieces, especially in the death overs. Surya was batting on 18* (13) before he brought up his half-century in 32 balls and the next 50 runs in just 17 balls to become only the second Indian player in the world to smash two centuries in T20Is in the same year.
New Zealand kept chipping in with regular wickets at the other end as Pant, Kishan, Shreyas Iyer all fell after 30-40-odd partnerships. Wicket kept falling but Surya was just unstoppable, especially after his half-century as he just went into an overdrive mode. However, he did find an able ally in skipper Hardik Pandya. Even though Hardik scored just 13 runs, he stayed with Surya at the other end and just kept giving him the strike, which was his job, or any other batter at the other end for that matter.
A six and a couple of fours off Tim Southee, a couple of sixes off Adam Milne and then a humongous 22-run over including four boundaries and a six against Lockie Ferguson meant Surya was just seeing the ball like a football and delivered on what he has done and promised all through this year. Surya didn’t get the strike in the last over but his innings single-handedly took India to a score beyond 190.
Getting Finn Allen in the first over itself probably was the plan of Hardik and Co. but they didn’t know that it will be executed so early as he got out caught at deep third man. Kane Williamson and Devon Conway led the repair work, however, after Allen’s departure, it was always going to be slow as it was the case in the T20 World Cup as well. Conway and Williamson did stitch a 56-run stand but one wicket and it all came crashing down for the hosts.
Washington Sundar dismissed Conway for 25 before the duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Deepak Hooda ran riot in the middle overs as New Zealand couldn’t recover from the SKY assault. Skipper Williamson did score a half-century, however, that was too late as the Black Caps were subjected to a 65-run loss.
The Men in Blue would hope to seal the series in Napier when the two teams meet again in the final match on Tuesday, November 22.
