Suryakumar Yadav maintained his T20 World Cup form to score a brilliant century against New Zealand in the second T20 match as India defeated the hosts by 65 runs. Tim Southee’s last over hat-trick was of no use as India piled up a total of 191-6 in 20 overs.
Yadav, who’s currently rated as the world number one T20 batter, remained unbeaten at 111 from 51 balls. Ishan Kishan made 36 from 31 balls.
In reply, New Zealand were all out for 126 runs in 18.5 overs. Skipper Kane Williamson was the top scorer with a knock of 61 from 52 balls.
Deepak Hooda picked up four wickets, while Mohammed Siraj and Yuzvendra Chahal shared two wickets each.
Reacting to his side’s defeat, Williamson said, “It was not our best effort. Surya’s innings was out of this world. One of the best knocks I’ve ever seen. Some of those shots, I’ve never seen before. We didn’t get momentum with the ball, didn’t get enough wickets and didn’t get momentum with the bat either. Again, I’ll say about Suryakumar, his innings was the difference. It did swing a bit (in the chase) and India did well to get some swing. Important to look at those few areas and improve. Need to look at the small margins. Surya is the best player in the world.”
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Indian skipper Hardik Pandya said, “Can’t get any better than this. Everyone chipped it but it was surely a special innings by Surya. We would have taken a score of 170-175. Bowlers did well and everyone had an aggressive mindset. The conditions were very wet, so credit to the bowlers. I have bowled a lot, going forward I want to see more bowling options. Not always that this will work but I want more batters to chip in with the ball. I expect them to be professional, which they are. Give them the opportunity to enjoy themselves. It’s about creating an environment where they are all in a happy space. I see many times in this team that all the players are happy for each other’s success. And that’s important. I’d like to give everyone in the squad a chance but it’s just one more game, so it’s a bit tough.”
Yadav was declared Player Of the Match for his unbeaten century knock.