Krunal Pandya, Rohit Sharma star as India level T20 series vs NZ

Mahendra Singh Dhoni watched from the 22 yards distance as his heir apparent Rishabh Pant showed spunk in a tricky situation guiding India to their maiden maiden T20 International victory on New Zealand soil here FridayThe sevenwicket triumph was set up by skipper Rohit Sharma 50 off 29 balls in company of Shikhar Dhawan 30 31 balls with a 79run stand after Krunal Pandya got three wickets to restrict the hosts to 1588With his whirlwind fifty Rohit also became the top rungetter in the format surpassing Martin GuptillVery pleased to see how we bowled and we were quite clinical with the bat as well Rohit said in the postmatch presentationDhoni the original master finisher couldnt have been happier as he saw Pant control what could have been a tricky 159run chase with an unbeaten 40 off 28 balls The series is now tied 11 with the decider in Hamilton on SundayWith the former India captain 20 no off 17 balls playing the role of a mentor at the other end the 44run stand was very significant as Indian cricket slowly moves towards a change of guard in coming daysPants onehanded six off Tim Southee or the bowlers back drive off Scott Kuggeleijn to finish off the match were reminiscent of Dhonis best days Pant hit four boundaries and a six in allEarlier Rohits flicked six off Kuggeleijn over backward square leg was a treat for the eyes but his dismissal along with Vijay Shankars did create a bit of unrest However Pant ensured that they didnt press the panic buttonThe innings would certainly help him make a strong case for being included in the World Cup squadWhile bowling Krunal enhanced his already growing reputation as a steady short format bowler with three important breakthroughs as India restricted New Zealand to a belowpar 1588We missed a trick or two with the bat It was slightly more tricky to bat but 20 more runs at the death would have been better said New Zealand captain Kane WilliamsonThe parsimonious Krunal 328 in 4 overs dismissed Colin Munro 12 and skipper Kane Williamson 20 to peg the Black Caps back early in the inningsIn between Krunal also got the controversial wicket of Daryl Mitchell 1 who fell prey to an umpiring howler when Hotspot showed a clear inside edge onto the padsHowever Colin de Grandhomme who has played for KKR in the IPL then counterattacked scoring a blistering 50 off 28 balls adding 77 runs with Ross Taylor 42 off 36 balls for the fifth wicketOnce De Grandhomme was sent back to the dugout by Hardik Pandya 136 in 4 overs and Taylor was runout New Zealands chances of a big total went up in smokeIt was a muchimproved performance by the Indian bowlers with Bhuvneshwar Kumar 129 in 4 overs removing Tim Seifert 12 in the very third over with a fuller delivery inducing an inside edge to Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind the stumpsHowever it was Krunal who really applied the brakes after being brought inside the Powerplay oversThe elder Pandya quickly found the ideal length bowling his usual wicket to wicket deliveries with a flatter trajectoryBoth Munro and Williamson got skidders While the lefthanded opener Munro hit one straight to the cover Williamson was caught plumb infrontHowever it was the dismissal of Mitchell that once again raised the Spirit of Cricket debate even though it was a clear case of an umpiring howler by TV umpire Shaun HaigKrunal angled one into Mitchell who got an inside edge onto the pads The onfield umpire adjudged him leg before and he promptly asked for DRSAs the giant screen showed that a faint edge could be detected by Hotspot to everyones dismay TV umpire Shaun Haig pressed the red button to signal outAfter that it was left to India captain Rohit Sharma to call the player back but he didnt do soAt 50 for 4 it was De Grandhomme who took charge as he attacked Yuzvendra Chahal 037 in 4 overs hitting him for a couple of sixesWhen he was just about threatening to take the game away De Grandhomme smacked one straight to covers in skipper Rohits handsIndia bowled 35 dot balls which could well have been decisive in the final context of the matchYoung Khaleel Ahmed 227 polished off two wickets in the end He and Bhuvneshwar also bowled 18 dot balls between themCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Except for the change in headline the story has been provided ASIS AS AVAILABLE without any verification or editing from our side Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever