Harshal Patel won player of the match for his figures of 2/25, besides giving away just 16 runs in his last two overs in the 17th and 19th and taking the wicket of the dangerous Glenn Phillips in that period as India beat New Zealand by seven wickets in the second T20I.
India can become a formidable T20 unit if Harshal Patel is able to form a partnership with Jasprit Bumrah, former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has said. Harshal Patel won player of the match on his international debut, giving away just 16 runs in his last two overs, which put the breaks on the New Zealand innings.
Harshal Patel’s Probable Ability To Set Up The Back Overs Brings A Whole New Dynamic To India’s Plan In Death Overs: Daniel Vettori
“The ability to set up the back overs is so important in T20 cricket. If Harshal Patel has that ability, we obviously know that Bumrah does, it brings a whole new dynamic to how you map out your 20 overs,” Vettori said.
Debutant Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar combined to give just 25 runs in the last four overs of the New Zealand innings.
Jasprit Bumrah took 7 wickets with an economy of 5.08 in the Super 12s stage of the 2021 T20I World Cup tournament and was rested for the New Zealand T20I series. As a result, India will be without Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Shami when they take the field for the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur from November 25 to 29. All five have presumably been rested.
Harshal Patel With Jasprit Bumrah In Death Overs Can Make India A Formidable T20 Team: Daniel Vettori
Harshal Patel has just come off a season where he topped the wicket charts(winning Purple Cap for most-32 scalps) in IPL 2021 and won the Most Valuable Player award, then rocked up to his first international outing by becoming the eighth player to win the Player of the Match award on his T20I debut for India.
“Your first six overs can be more attacking, you may have a specialist at the top because you know you have got those overs locked away at the back. There are not many bowlers who can do it and if India has two of Bumrah and Harshal, it sets them up for being such a formidable team,” said Vettori.
New Zealand ended their innings on 153/6. In reply, captain Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul’s opening partnership of 117 runs all but ended the match. While New Zealand skipper Tim Southee dismissed Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Suryakumar Yadav in consecutive overs, it was not enough to stop India from strolling to a seven-wicket win. However, it helped India seal a series win with one match left to play.
India 155 for 3 (Rahul 65, Rohit 55, Southee 3-16) beat New Zealand 153 for 6 (Phillips 34, Mitchell 31, Harshal 2-25, Ashwin 1-19) by seven wickets