In the 2nd T20I match of the New Zealand tour of India 2023, India defeated New Zealand by six wickets at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
New Zealand won the toss and Mitchell Santner elected to bat first. The choice to bat first on the pitch, which initially appeared to be bowler-friendly, was debatable. Indian bowlers controlled the innings as expected and held New Zealand to a score of just 99. Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal and others were at their best which helped India to put pressure on the visitors.
Due to the pitch, even the Indian batters found it difficult and frequently lost wickets during the chase. After a solid start from both of the openers, Shubman Gill (11) and Ishan Kishan (19), Rahul Tripathi (13) played a respectable inning. Suryakumar Yadav (26), who played superbly under duress in the end, helped India cross the finish line in the final over. To help him, Hardik Pandya (15) and Washington Sundar (10) also contributed which was in the end enough for the Men in Blue.
No one really batted throughout the innings for NZ and only major contributions came from Mark Chapman (14), Mitchell Santner (19) and Michael Bracewell (14). The team needed a few extra runs which could have been enough to put the home side under pressure but failed to do so.
Arshdeep Singh managed to claim two wickets in the first innings, while one wicket each was picked by Pandya, Sundar, Chahal, Deepak Hooda and Kuldeep Yadav.
For NZ, only Ish Sodhi and Michael Bracewell were able to grab one wicket each while trying to defend.
Suryakumar Yadav was named Man of the Match for a match-winning gentle knock. With this win, India have levelled the series by 1-1 and now it is all down to the final T20I match.
Scorecard:
New Zealand: 99/8, Overs 20, Mitchell Santner 19*, Arshdeep Singh 2/7
India: 101/4, Overs 19.5, Suryakumar Yadav 26*, Michael Bracewell 1/13