IND vs NZ 2nd T20 Man of the Match: Who was awarded Man of the Match in India vs New Zealand Ranchi T20I?

2nd T20 Man of the Match: The Indian fast bowler won the match award for being the best bowler for his team on his international debut.

During the second T20I of the ongoing New Zealand’s tour of India in Ranchi, India beat New Zealand by 7 wickets to attain an unassailable 2-0 lead in this three-match series.

Chasing a 154-run target, the home team thrived on the back of Lokesh Rahul (65) and Rohit Sharma’s (55) fourth century partnership at the top of the order in this format. While scored his 15th T20I half-century at a strike rate of 132.65, Sharma’s 25th T20I half-century came at a strike rate of 152.77.

With bowling figures of 4-0-16-3, New Zealand captain Tim Southee continued to make inroads into the Indian batting unit. But a below par never really put India in a spot of bother. It was India wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant (12*) who eventually scored two consecutive sixes off James Neesham to seal the chase in the 18th over.

IND vs NZ 2nd T20 Man of the Match

With India captain Sharma winning the toss and inviting New Zealand in to field first, all the visitors could manage was 153/6 in their allotted quota of 20 overs. Having scored 64/1 in the powerplay, New Zealand failed to reap fruits of a quickfire start provided by their opening pair of Martin Guptill (31) and Daryl Mitchell (31).

Glenn Phillips, who scored 34 (21) with the help of one four and three sixes, did find boundaries in the middle overs but lack of support from the other end especially after his dismissal saw New Zealand scoring just 16 runs off the last 21 deliveries.

Making his international debut after a decade-long T20 career, Harshal Patel was the pick of the Indian bowlers with bowling figures of 4-0-25-2 comprising of wickets of Mitchell and Phillips. While all other Indian bowlers dismissed a batter each, spin-bowling pair of Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin giving away just 45 runs in a combined eight overs worked wonders for the team.

“The [debut] match did run through. When you are in the process you just get engrossed. It will sink in and it has been a great game. I couldn’t have asked for a better debut. The progress is gradual and slow. For someone like me who is not exceptionally talented, I had to build my game from ground up. I made mistakes and then found things that I can and cannot do well.

“It has been a great journey and has taught me many lessons which will hold me in good stead even after cricket. You need to package your deliveries well. I couldn’t bowl those yorkers and loopy slower ones in these conditions. The yorker is a delivery I would like to use and get better at,” Patel told Star Sports after winning the ‘Man of the Match’ award at the JSCA International Stadium Complex tonight.