Hardik Pandya: No one thought this wicket would play like that, both teams got surprised but New Zealand played better cricket. The new ball was turning more than the old ball. The way it turned and bounced surprised us but till I and Surya were batting, we thought we would pull it off. In hindsight, we ended up giving 25 runs more than the par. The way Washington bowled, batted, and fielded, it was more like Washington against New Zealand than India against New Zealand. If he and Axar can continue the way they are, it will help Indian cricket a lot.
Mitchell Santner: I think it was a bit of a shock, how much it spun in the second innings. After lots of runs in the ODI series, it was nice to see the ball turn. I don’t think we were ever safe [even after posting 176]. Daryl Mitchell batted really batted well. At the toss, we were thinking to bowl because it was dewy from the start but it never really got worse. The newer and harder ball was spinning a lot in the powerplay.
Daryl Mitchell is the Player of the Match: It was nice to contribute to the score and then I think the boys bowled really well. I think Devon batted well and allowed us to build on it. For me, it’s about trusting my skills and following the process. Not every time it comes off in T20 cricket but it feels nice whenever it does.
Pitch and Weather: Ranchi is a bowl-first venue, with chasing teams winning 16 of the 25 T20 games hosted here. With dew expected to play a big role in the second innings, captains should have no hesitation in opting to bowl after winning the toss, unless they want to challenge their bowlers. It should be a cool evening, with the temperature hovering around 15°C.
India vs New Zealand Highlights today. 1st T20I (N), JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi, Friday 27-1-2023, New Zealand tour of India 2023.
Toss: India chose to field.
“Looks like a very good track,” Hardik Pandya says. “The reason behind the decision to bowl first is that the ground is going to get quite wet, I can see some dew now itself. It’s a young side, everyone’s ready to go. Yuzi, Mukesh, Jitesh, and Prithvi miss out.”
“There’s no experience like playing India at their home,” says Mitchell Santner. “It would have been nice to bowl first but we will try to put some runs on the board. Tommy Latham and Henry Nicholls are done. Ish Sodhi is back in, and Mark Chapman is as well.”
India team: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Hardik Pandya (capt), 6 Deepak Hooda, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Shivam Mavi, 9 Umran Malik, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Kuldeep Yadav
New Zealand team: 1 Finn Allen, 2 Devon Conway (wk), 3 Mark Chapman, 4 Glenn Phillips, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Michael Bracewell, 7 Mitchell Santner (capt), 8 Blair Tickner, 9 Ish Sodhi, 10 Jacob Duffy, 11 Lockie Ferguson
Head to Head In T20I’s: 22
India Won: 12
New Zealand Won: 9
India T20I Rankings: 1st
New Zealand T20I Rankings: 5th
Form guide
(Last five completed matches, most recent first)
India WLWTW
New Zealand TLLWL
Match Timings: 1:30 PM GMT | 7:00 PM Local
Umpires – Anil Chaudhary, Jayaraman Madanagopal
TV Umpire – Nitin Menon
Match Referee – Javagal Srinath
Reserve Umpire – KN Ananthapadmanabhan
Match number – T20I no. 1990
Highlights will be Available Shortly.
