A winning start was important for India to set the tone for their 41-day tour of New Zealand in which they play five T20Is, five ODIs and two Test matches. They nailed it in Christchurch on Thursday.
India had struggled in the blustery conditions in New Zealand on their last few tours, but this time Shreyas Iyer’s men ensured they came out unscathed with a four-wicket win.
“When we started bowling, I thought it was playing a bit slower,” Iyer later told the host broadcaster. “The ball was holding a bit and we bowled a little ahead (fuller) compared to the hard lengths we should have been hitting. But as soon as the game progressed, we saw the dew coming in and the wicket was getting flatter as the ball was skidding through and coming onto the bat pretty well.”
Sanju Samson showed the way with an innings of courage and character in their chase of 226. The opener provided the perfect start, smashing 50 of the 94 runs which came in the Powerplay. Samson finished with 67 off 33 balls before Iyer (42 off 28 balls) and Naman Dhir (42 off 15 balls) helped India chase the target with ease despite a brief wobble in the middle overs.
Samson excels
Finn Allen and Glenn Phillips played powerful knocks as the home team raced to 80/2 inside the eighth over and helped them set up a record total of 225/4. But the Indians
were unfazed by the circumstances, with Samson taking the lead role.
Samson has never been confident of his place despite playing a crucial role in India’s T20 World Cup triumph earlier this year. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been breathing down his neck.
An unflustered Samson all but settled it inside the first six overs in the company of Abhishek Sharma. Samson lit up the chase, dismantling Lockie Ferguson in a 22-run third over. Adam Milne’s fourth went for 26 with Abhishek pulling him twice for six. New Zealand’s quicks also compounded their troubles with regular wides.
There was no way India would have looked back after that start, but they did struggle for a while. Tilak Varma came in at No. 3 despite his recent success as a finisher, and with spin at both ends, New Zealand tied the left-hander down. Three quick wickets slowed down the chase, but Iyer and Dhir came to the rescue.
Dhir show
Dhir, playing his ninth match for India, showed immense maturity and a cool head in the closing stages after Iyer’s dismissal in the 19th over. India needed 16 off 11 balls at that stage, but Dhir was up for the challenge.
New Zealand did their best to drag the match into the final over with eight runs still
needed, but the dew eventually came to the batters’ aid. Dhir is being groomed as a substitute for Washington Sundar, who is prone to injuries, and he showed signs of being a good finisher.
The impressive start to his international career continued as he regularly found the boundary whenever the pressure seemed to be mounting. He closed the match with a top-edged hook for a six with two runs needed from three balls.