Christchurch: Glenn Phillips and Bevon Jacobs put up impressive half-centuries to lead New Zealand to a decent total of 180/5 in the second T20I of the five-match series against India at the Hagley Oval here on Saturday.
With New Zealand’s backs against the wall at 41/3 after 5.2 overs, Phillips (70 off 43 balls) and Jacobs (58 off 46 balls) put up a fighting 116-run partnership for the fourth wicket to lead the comeback for the hosts in the second match, which was played on the same venue and the same pitch as that run-scoring first T20I.
The surface, however, behaved much better for the bowlers this time around, with the batters finding it hard to hit the hard lengths, and the Indian bowlers also bowled well, especially in the powerplay and then at the death.
India began pretty well and tested the New Zealand batters with their hard lengths. The second T20I is being played at the same venue and on the same pitch which hosted the first match between the two sides.
With the game being played on a used surface, some wear and tear played a role in the bowling extracting help and troubling the batters. India sent the hosts down to 43/3 in the powerplay as Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh and Prince Yadav took a wicket each.
The Indian bowlers were spot on with their plans, bowling a lot more good-length and short balls and not going fuller for the Kiwi batters to get under the ball and go big. When they occasionally missed, the Kiwis pounced.
Phillips and Jacobs put up a stellar 116-run stand off 76 balls for the fourth wicket. This was New Zealand’s first century stand for the fourth or lower wicket in T20Is against India, surpassing the 99 which Tim Seifert and Ross Taylor had put against the Men in Blue at Mount Maunganui in 2020.
The visitors began well when Arshdeep struck in the second over to remove Tim Seifert, who miscued a wild mow for Tilak Varma to hold the catch at covers. Bhuvneshwar Kumar followed suit in the next over to get his first wicket on his India return.
He removed Daryl Mitchell for six, with the Kiwi batter getting a leading edge to a back-tracking Tilak at extra cover. Prince Yadav removed Finn Allen in the final over of the powerplay as he cleaned him up.
The Kiwis then dug deep to rebuild, with Phillips and Jacobs doing the heavy lifting. India deployed spinners, as Axar Patel and Naman Dhir also got help from the surface.
The two kept the scoreboard ticking and brought up their 50-run partnership off 43 balls. They began pouncing on any errors India made as Axar was taken to 11 runs in the 15th over before Bhuvi was hit for 18 in the next one and Prince for 12 in the 17th over.
Both players brought up their half-centuries, as Phillips made it two-in-two, having also made a fifty in the previous game. He got to his half-century off 33 balls, while Jacobs made a fifty off 40 balls. Jacobs was also dropped by India captain Shreyas Iyer off Prince in the 11th over.
The two managed to put 116 in 76 balls before India struck back in the death overs. Arshdeep finally got the breakthrough in the 18th over when he removed Phillips, caught at deep point by Naman Dhir.
Nitish Kumar Reddy followed it up when he got Jacobs out on a full toss at long-off by Axar. Michael Bracewell joined captain Mitchell Santner, and the former hit a couple of boundaries to take the Kiwis to a decent total of 180/5.
For India, Arshdeep turned out to be the pick of the bowlers as he took 2-33 in his four overs, while Bhuvneshwar, Prince and Nitish also took a wicket each.
Brief Scores: New Zealand 180/5 in 20 overs (Glenn Phillips 70, Bevon Jacobs 58; Arshdeep Singh 2-33, Prince Yadav 1-30) against India
(IANS)
