T20: India to win play second match against Kiwis

India will look to clinch the series albeit with a more impactful batting performance from the middle-order in the second T20 International against New Zealand on Friday. For coach Rahul Dravid and skipper Rohit Sharma, there couldn’t be a better start than a series win against an old nemesis, which helped them hit the right chord at the beginning of their partnership. A superlative display by their top-order and controlled bowling at the back-end ensured a five-wicket victory against Black Caps, ending ‘Men in Blue’ seven-match losing streak across formats.

For Rohit, before he gets a much-needed two and half week break from the game, he would like to close the deal at Ranchi and go for the jugular when the teams meet in Kolkata for the final game of the series.

In absence of Virat Kohli, currently on leave, Suryakumar Yadav made full use of the opportunity at number three with a match-winning 62 off 42 balls. While there is absolutely no necessity to press the panic button, but Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant’s scratchy batting did slightly mess up the chase although it was never out of control.

Shreyas, who is playing a match for India after a long break, did look rusty as he found it difficult to middle the ball. He also didn’t look too keen on farming the strike with singles and twos when big shots weren’t coming off.

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