Indian pacer Mohammed Shami and Shardul Thakur’s last over brilliance led Team India to prevail in two consecutive super over games. In the fourth T20I match, Thakur replicated the job of Shami and defended seven runs in the last over.
In the third T20I match when Indian skipper handed over the ball to Shami, New Zealand required none runs in last over.
Kane Williamson, who was on the strike, hit a six on Shami’s first ball but went on to lose the wicket on the very next ball. After Kiwis skipper lost his wicket, the hosts got derailed and the game went into super over.
Unfortunately, the Black Caps could not defend the target in the one-over eliminator.
Similarly, in Wellington, in the last over of Thakur, Team India picked four wickets which included two run-outs. His prolific last over led the game to super over. This time also results didn’t change as India won the fourth T20I match.
Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Shami on Chahal TV:
Speaking on Chahal TV, Shami and Shardul Thakur revealed what was going on in their heads as they prepared to defend nine runs (in the previous match) and seven runs respectively.
WATCH: How brilliant were @imShard and @MdShami11 in the last two T20Is! ??@yuzi_chahal discusses it all with final-over heroes – by @RajalArora #NZvIND
Full Video here ?? https://t.co/QZiO90Lrik pic.twitter.com/kPQEv7xmKM
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 31, 2020
“I was planning to bowl good yorkers. I tried on the first ball, it slipped out of my hand, and it went for a six. I had nothing to lose afterward. I was thinking about how to get dot balls. I thought we have already lost, let’s try to bowl some bouncers. After Williamson got out, I thought that a short ball will do the trick. With the scores tied, I had just one option on the last ball, to get a dot ball. So, I went with a yorker delivery and it paid off,” Shami said.
Shardul Thakur gets help from Shami’s last over:
On Friday, Thakur bagged Man of the Match award in Wellington. He revealed what was going on in his back of mind when the skipper handed over him the duty.
“There was a lot of pressure. I was trying to get a wicket on the first ball. Mostly, a batsman tries to go for four or six on the first ball to try and finish the match as early as possible. My idea was that I will give a slow ball to make them go for a big hit. The plan worked. When I was hit for a four on the second ball, then the pressure increased.”
“But in crunch situations, you can get hit for a six or a four, so I did not lose hope. We saw how Shami Bhai was hit for a six on the first ball, but then he defended 3 runs in 5 balls. So why can’t the same happen here? It can happen again,” he added.
After witnessing back to back super overs, India and New Zealand will head to play fifth T20I match on Sunday (2nd February) at Bay Oval.