Trailing 1-0 in the series, India went into the second match of the series with one change bringing in left-arm spinner Axar Patel in place Kuldeep Yadav. New Zealand opted to bat first winning the toss but was quickly reduced to 27 for three courtesy some accurate bowling by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah. Hero from the previous match Tom Latham started off well scoring 38 runs before getting out of an Axar Patel delivery. Striving at 118 for 5, Henry Nicholls and Collin de Grandhomme scored some useful runs taking the total score to 230 runs.
Chasing a modest total of 231 runs, India lost the wicket of Rohit Sharma before Virat Kohli, and Shikhar Dhawan took the upper hand in the game. Virat Kohli got out on 28 runs edging one to Latham of Grandhomme. Dhawan and Dinesh Karthik both scored their half-centuries taking their side close to the total before Dhawan threw his wicket at 68 runs. Karthik alongside Dhoni took the team over the line as they were unbeaten on 64 and 18 runs respectively winning the match by six wickets to level the series at 1-1.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is having a fantastic time with the ball swinging it both ways and giving early breakthroughs. In the absence of Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav, he is the leading man for team India in the pace bowling line-up alongside Jasprit Bumrah. He has been in red-hot form picking crucial wickets at crucial junctures giving away only a few runs which have proved good for Virat Kohli. Continuing his form, he once proved his worth picking up three crucial wickets giving away just 45 runs in his quota of 10 overs and was adjudged the man of the match. In the third over of the match, Bhuvi bowls a perfect outswinger on off-stump leaving Guptill hanging his bat away from the body and edging it to the safe hands of MS Dhoni. He then cleaned the stumps of Colin Munro with a slower delivery which went through Munro’s defence. He then removed Nicholls in the 38th over when he was looking dangerous.
Video of the day:
“That’s my nature (being calm and confident), never try to change that. The focus is to replicate what I practice, during the match. Whenever I bowl with the new ball, I try to swing it. It didn’t happen today, so I was focused on bowling in good areas. When you’re confident, things get easier. Thanks to management, they keep motivating me. I’m not a muscular guy. If you compare to the last couple of years, I feel much stronger when it comes to fitness, the fast-bowler from Uttar Pradesh said at the post-match presentation ceremony.”
