April 23, 2024

Third T20: India Crush New Zealand As Gill Sparkles

By Slogger
First publised on 2023-02-02 07:29:44

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Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.

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India beat New Zealand by a whopping 168 runs (the highest margin of victory in T20s in matches between two test-playing nations) in the 3^rd and final T20 of the series to win it 2-1. They scored 234 runs, led by a scintillating unbeaten century by the amazing Shubman Gill. He became only the fifth Indian batsman to score a century across formats. Ishan Kishan failed once again but Rahul Tripathi raised his game even as people were talking about his not living up to the faith reposed in him. He scored a quick fire 44, playing some amazing shots. Suryakumar Yadav was just getting into top gear when he was deceived by a slower ball and mistimed a shot. Hardik Pandya gave good support to Gill and at one time it looked as if India would cross 250 but part-timer Daryl Mitchell bowled an excellent last over to peg them back.

But the day belonged to Shubman Gill. That he is in the form of his life for the last couple of months is one thing. But scoring a century in T20, mostly with perfect cricketing shots, is another. The poise and grace Gill displays belongs to Test cricket. But such is his dominance over bowlers now that he has to do nothing different to score in T20s or ODIs. The very fact that he did not take the aerial route and hit his first six after he reached his fifty showed that he can score briskly by just by employing perfect cricketing shots and using the gaps in the field. When Gill bats like this, there is very little the opposition bowlers can do to stop him.

The New Zealanders were sloppy on the field and catches were dropped. The captaincy was also unimaginative as M Bracewell was not given a bowl despite giving away just 8 runs and taking the wicket of Ishan Kishan early on. Their bowlers were also guilty of not bowling to their field and giving away too many runs. In contrast, the Indian bowlers bowled a tight line and length and never allowed the New Zealanders to settle. Pandya bowled a nagging line and got the batsmen to make unforced errors. Arshdeep Singh was also outstanding. Umran Malik bowled with fire and when he disturbed the stumps of M Bracewell, one of the bails flew past the 30-yard circle.