there's the win! A six over deep midwicket, and that's just as well because India have looked utterly awesome in this chase. Stays cool in the face of a slower, length ball, waits for it to arrive and then smokes it over the boundary
New Zealand vs India, 1st T20I at Auckland, NZ v IND, Jan 24 2020 - Match Result
That's all we have for you. Thanks for joining us. Hope you enjoyed the coverage but for now this is Al Muthu, on behalf of Deiva Muthu and Venkat Raghan, making like a cricket ball and just getting the heck outta here.
Virat Kohli: We enjoyed it. Just landing two days ago and playing a game like this sets it up for the whole tour. We had great support. We had 80% of India fans here and the atmosphere was great. You need that in a 200-plus chase, they help us go further, be braver. We never spoke of jet lag. We don't want to use as an excuse. If we focus on things that aren't important then you're taking attention away. We had a really good series against Australia and we took that confidence in here. You can't be harsh on anyone on this kind of pitch. I think we did well in the middle overs, to restrict them under 210 was a good effort. I think fielding is one thing that we can improve on, just getting used to the ground dimensions and the ball snaking a bit.
Kane Williamson: "A lot of positives out there. We know coming to Eden Park it's hard to defend and there was a bit of dew and obviously India showed their class. We knew batting first we had to get a good total on the board. Being a second-used suface, it was a high scoring game. But with ball in hand, if we could get three or four early, we could have got ahead of the game. We sort of had five bowlers and Colin and I guess with the slower bowlers, in term sfo the treat, it was hard being such a good pitch. They kept putting us under pressure and we found ourselves defending for most of the second half. We have to recover there. It's always important at this ground that when you start you go on."
Shreyas Iyer is Man of the Match. It's amazing coming overseas and it's a really good feeling to win the game and being not out. We had lost two quick wickets and it was really important ot build a partnership. We knew the ground is short and we could cover the run rate at any time. It was an amazing experience, this is my first time at Eden Park, looking forward to the same crowd and the same support again for the next game
11.15 pm That's as good as it gets from India, winning a chase that was more than 10 runs an over an entire over to spare. KL Rahul and Virat Kohli set up the platform, but both men fell in the space of just a few deliveries. India's middle order was exposed again, and exposed to the worst kind of pressure. The required rate was still up near double-digits and without Dhoni, without Pandya, this team has struggled to rise to that challenge.
But Shreyas Iyer here decided to thumb his nose at all that history. His 58 off just 29 balls is the innings of the match, and he barely even looked to be out of second gear. Each of those five fours and three sixes came as a result of clear thinking and one-upping the bowler. If he does becoming India's No. 4 across formats, and I think he will, this is the night that made him. And while he should get all the accolades, do not forget that India's bowlers - led by Jasprit Bumrah - allowed only 25 runs in the last three overs. That was crucial here.
Aravind: "Iyer for MoM though Rahul got a similar score at an equally quick pace. Iyer had the pressure of the end overs while Rahul had the relative luxury of the field restrictions up front."
Deadfish: "Shades of Hobart's Kohli in Iyer today. Sublime Innings"
Naren: "1996: Suddenly there were two young players hitting centuries in test cricket in England. They went on to become Ganguly and Dravid. 2002: Again two young players when India won against all odds in a series final. They went on to become Yuvraj and Kaif, one of them man of the series in two WCs 2020: Two young player, Rahul and Shreyas making a chase look easy. I am sure they are going to play for India for a long time. Different formats, different players, but talent is here to succeed!"
Packie Chan: "Loved the chase! Clinical performance by team India. Wanted to see good partnership from middle order and that's what we got. Hope this middle order only get better and better from here and gets us to #1 in T20 raniings"
Ashok Sridharan: "This Indian win must rank as one of the most extraordinary performances ever. Ever heard of a jetlagged side chasing down a massive target so effortlessly?"
and for once he looks fallible, playing a straight bat shot. Isn't that funny, he's been whacking the cross-bat ones, the ones that send the ball behind the wicket, and the first time he goes for a straiht six, he misses it
short and coming up to his ears, but Pandey is able to swat it to deep midwicket
flick to deep midwicket.
he's playing mind games! He's winning mind games. That he's got fifty almost seems less impressive than the fact he's just owned Southee here. Knows the bowler is going to go full and so he just walks across his stumps and whips the ball to the fine leg boundary
this is unreal. This is why India have so much faith in Iyer. A hard length ball, coming up towards his chest. But he's just backed away and thumped it over mid-off
India need 18 off 12 and it's all on Southee here
the knuckle ball strays down leg, Iyer tries to glance it away, but the lack of pace means he doesn't have enough on it to go away to the boundary
Raj Patel: "Such a high scoring match and no batsman has scored more than 60 ... Looks like contributions from everyone"
slogs a length ball on off stump to deep square leg. Back to Iyer, who looks like India's match-winner
takes the pace off and targets the body again. Iyer backs away this time to swat it down to long-on
bangs it in this time and Iyer, walking around in his crease, is unable to pull off the ramp he's going for. Touch too quick for him this time
Williamson and Southee in conversation about the field placement...
walks across again and finds the boundary again! Iyer is absolutely bossing this chase. This time he has to deal with a cross-seamer outside off. He keeps his shape, he sees the gap wide of long-on and flicks the ball away, all cool-like
again, very clever cricket. He sees the bowler coming around the wicket. He knows the ball is going to be on leg stump. So he walks across his stumps, keeps his eye on the low full toss, which is quite helpful, and whips it past fine leg. Glorious
India need 29 off 18. It's down from two-runs ball and that's usually the point of no return for a batting side. Anything less is doable. NZ were 178 at this point in their innings, then they ran into Bumrah
excellent stop at point, Tickner diving to his right to stop a well-hit cut shot. Iyer looks good here.
goes wide of the crease for a yorker which Pandey thumps down the ground to long-on
Vinod Rajpal: "Hey Muthu....Do we have a Super Over if we have a TIE in this match ?" --- Course we do
slower ball cramping Pandey for room, he tries to make some himself, but ends up skewing it to mid-on
gets up on his tip toes to nudge a short ball to midwicket
that's incredible hitting. He gets inside the line of a short ball and just helps it on its way. That's all he has to do with the ball angling into his body. Clever cricket.
slower ball on middle, Pandey drills it to mid-off and takes off.
India need 39 off 24 and Williamson is looking for experience here, going with Southee
Kris: "Not yet make or break i feel for Manish Pandey. He needs a longer run for sure...lower down the order in T20s you need to be more patient. He is a clean striker and terrific feilder he needs to go through to the worldcup unchanged in the position"
tosses it up nice and slow, swats it down to long-on. Sodhi is done, 2 for 36, decent, but how much will that six cost NZ?
launches it and India are back in this chase. The pressure tells on the bowler this time - sliding a flat one and ends up bowling a long hop. Pandey keeps his balance and slogs it over midwicket
1W | ||||
1W | ||||
1W | ||||
Eden Park, Auckland | |
Toss | India, elected to field first |
Series | |
Season | 2019/20 |
Player Of The Match | |
Series result | India led the 5-match series 1-0 |
Match number | T20I no. 1031 |
Hours of play (local time) | 19.50 start, First Session 19.50-21.20, Interval 21.20-21-40, Second Session 21.40-23.10 |
Match days | 24 January 2020 - night (20-over match) |
T20I debut | |
Umpires | |
TV Umpire | |
Reserve Umpire | |
Match Referee |