India won the second T20I match against New Zealand on January 29, Sunday to level the series at 1-1. The Men in Blue managed to scrape past the Kiwis in a low-scoring affair. Suryakumar Yadav played a pivotal role to hold the ship together sticking to the end.
However, the 32-year-old was involved in a mix-up with Washington Sundar at a crucial stage of the run chase. The mux up led to the fall of Sundar who was also looking in good touch. Bowling the 15th over, spinner Glenn Phillips tossed up a delivery with Suryakumar attempting to play the reverse sweep. The New Zealanders broke out in a loud appeal for LBW after he missed the ball, and it went rolling to the backward point.
At that moment, Surya blitzed to take a run, but Sundar put up his hand to signal ‘no’. Surya paid no heed as he continued to run. Consequently, the fielder at backward point inflicted an easy run out with Sundar sacrificing himself.
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pic.twitter.com/yHWVZ6AYfG— Guess Karo (@KuchNahiUkhada) January 30, 2023
Ultimately, the sacrifice worked well for India as the 32-year-old Mumbai-born player scored the winning runs in the second last delivery, striking the ball for a boundary.
In his post-match interview, Washington Sundar shed light on his thoughts regarding the incident.
“It was very important for him (SKY) to stay till the end and certain things like that happen in a game. Especially when things get quite tough in the middle, one misjudgement happens,” he said.
Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav played a pivotal role in the latter stages of the match, holding their nerves to bag a crucial victory in the context of the series.
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Suryakumar Yadav apologised for the mix-up while receiving his player of the match award. “It was my mistake, it was definitely not a run, I didn’t see where the ball was going,” Surya said.
The Indians managed to restrict the Black Caps to a paltry score of 99 in the first innings. That said, the Kiwis gave a tough fight to the hosts, picking up wickets at regular intervals and stopping the flow of runs as much as possible. All batters struggled to get going on the night, but India eventually scraped past the finish line with six wickets and one ball to spare.
The third and deciding game of the series will take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on February 1, Wednesday.
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