Arshdeep Singh had a difficult day with the ball in the second T20I against New Zealand and struggled to get into a consistent rhythm. The left-arm pacer did begin brightly, bowling a probing delivery that moved away from Devon Conway and beat the outside edge. That early promise, however, did not last long. Conway and his partner latched onto anything loose, and Arshdeep was taken for 18 runs in his first over, which is also the joint-most expensive first over by an Indian bowler in a T20I match. Earlier, Ireland’s Paul Stirling scored as many against right-arm speedster Bhuvneshwar Kumar in Malahide in 2022.
From then on, he rarely found any breathing space as the New Zealand batters picked him off with ease. He was unable to pull things back or apply the brakes, and each over added to the damage. Arshdeep eventually finished with expensive figures of 53 runs from his four overs.
Adding to the misery was Arshdeep’s final over, which summed up his frustrating night. Varun Chakaravarthy put down a tough but gettable chance off Zakary Foulkes on the fifth ball. To make matters worse, the ball went over the boundary for six, adding further runs to Arshdeep’s figures. The pacer could only watch on in disbelief, even casting a death stare at Varun after the costly miss.
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India miss Bumrah as New Zealand post 208/6
Meanwhile, Rachin Ravindra and captain Mitchell Santner led New Zealand’s charge in different phases, ensuring the visitors pushed past the 200-run mark. Ravindra struck a brisk 44 off 26 balls to provide momentum early, while Santner stayed till the end with an unbeaten 47 from 27 deliveries to finish strongly.
With dew expected to play a role, India captain Suryakumar Yadav chose to bowl first, bringing in Harshit Rana and Kuldeep Yadav in place of the injured Axar Patel and the rested Jasprit Bumrah. India felt Bumrah’s absence at the death, where control was hard to find. Santer ensured his team got 57 runs off the last five overs with a flurry of boundaries and a straight six off Hardik Pandya. New Zealand capitalised on the final overs to post a challenging 208 for six in their 20 overs, keeping the contest finely balanced.
