10.55pm Wow Hardik Pandya was quite scathing on the pitches for the first two T20Is. He called this one a "shocker". We, however, got a terrific entertainer even though it wasn't the regular high-scoring T20 game. Even in the team, not everyone will agree this was a shocker. Washington Sundar said two out of 10 matches should be such low-scorers. A lot to debate from the decider in Ahmedabad then. Until then, goodbye from Chandan, Hemant and me. See you soon.
10.52pm Suryakumar Yadadv is the Player of the Match. "A different version of SKY today," he says. "Adapting to the situation was very important. After losing Washy, I had to make sure I batted till the end. It was my mistake, I didn't see where the ball went. Of course it was a challenging wicket, but you have to be able to adapt. We just needed one hit in the end, and it was very important to calm ourselves down. Before I got the winning runs, Hardik came up to me and told me you will hit the winning runs this ball. That gave me a lot of confidence."
10.50pm "I always believed we will finish the game," says Hardik Pandya. "It went quite deep, but that is how it is. These kind of games, it is important to not panic. Rather than taking risks, we rotated the strike. having said that, this is a shocker of a pitch. We need to make sure we have better pitches. Even 120 would have been a winning total here. We kept to our plans, we made sure they will not rotate the strike, and the wickets kept falling. Dew didn't play much of a role because if you see they were able to spin the ball more than us. It was a shocker of a wicket. The ball was flying for even the fast bowlers."
10.46pm "It was a great game of cricket," says Mitchell Santner. "We bowled well, got really close, another 10-15 runs would have helped. With the bounce out there, it looked quite challenging. When you are batting, you are not too sure what a good score. We were looking at 140-160 when 120 would have been a good score."
10.32pm "All of us were on our toes," Washington Sundar says. "I am sure everyone watching would have been on their toes. This has been very very exciting. Two-three games like this out of every 10-11 games would be amazing. It was very important for Surya to stay till the end that's why I sacrificed my wicket."
10.28pm What a finish. A lot of credit to New Zealand for defending so well in the dew, but as it turned out, India's bowlers did just enough for them to scrape through to the series leveller. It was a difficult pitch to bat on because with the turn available, it is not easy to place the ball. And when you try to force the issue, you take a big risk. That is exactly what happened. Arshdeep Singh's last two overs assume such a great significance. Well done by India to back him in a must-win match. On a pitch that both sides' part-time spinners bowled their complete allotment, Arshdeep bowled two overs at the death for just seven runs. Not a single six in the match.
Two off two. Field set for the short ball outside off again
Kiran Kadam: "SKY struggling in a T20 match.. I have seen it all"
The conditions are so wet that Tickner is having to get the grass out of his spikes. A run a ball for the Super Over
Deep third being that straight suggests he will go short. Mid-on and mid-off are up
Run a ball required. Tickner to bowl the over. His first over of the night
END OF OVER:19 | 7 Runs | IND: 94/4 (6 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 4.94, RRR: 6.00)
- Hardik Pandya13 (18b)
- Suryakumar Yadav21 (28b)
- Lockie Ferguson1-0-7-0
- Mitchell Santner4-0-20-0
This has been a superb over so far
Ferguson has the ball. Long chat between him, Santner, Conway and Mitchell. He prefers the legcutter to the offcutter
END OF OVER:18 | 5 Runs | IND: 87/4 (13 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 4.83, RRR: 6.50)
- Hardik Pandya7 (14b)
- Suryakumar Yadav20 (26b)
- Mitchell Santner4-0-20-0
- Mark Chapman1-0-4-0
All specialist spinners done. Thirteen required off the last two. Big decision. Do they bowl Chapman again? Which of the three seamers bowl?
Santner to bowl out now
END OF OVER:17 | 5 Runs | IND: 82/4 (18 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 4.82, RRR: 6.00)
- Suryakumar Yadav18 (24b)
- Hardik Pandya4 (10b)
- Mark Chapman1-0-4-0
- Ish Sodhi4-0-24-1
Exactly a run a ball required in the last three overs
Wow this is interesting. Santner is gambling on Mark Chapman's left-arm spin
END OF OVER:16 | 4 Runs | IND: 77/4 (23 runs required from 24 balls, RR: 4.81, RRR: 5.75)
- Hardik Pandya3 (6b)
- Suryakumar Yadav15 (22b)
- Ish Sodhi4-0-24-1
- Glenn Phillips4-0-17-0
Into the death overs we go. Just under a run a ball required. Santner has one over left. The other three will have to be bowled by the seamers