Black Caps hold on for series victory over India
A brilliant knock of 72 from Colin Munro set up a four-run win for New Zealand over India in a tense finish to Sunday’s Twenty20 match in Hamilton, handing the hosts a 2-1 series victory.
India looked to be well beaten when they needed 47 off the last three overs. But Dinesh Karthik and Krunal Pandya together plundered 32 off overs 18 and 19 before Tim Southee restricted the duo to 11 in the last over.
“It was obviously touch-and-go there for us,” said Munro whose knock laid the platform for New Zealand’s 212 for four with India 208 for six at the close.
The morale-boosting victory for New Zealand gave captain Kane Williamson something to smile about after being hammered 4-1 by India in the earlier one-day international series.
“It came down to the last couple of balls and it’s nice to come out on the right side,” he said.
A more somber mood prevailed in the India dressing after Rohit Sharma had won the toss and defied convention by not batting first in a series decider, saying his team preferred to chase regardless.
“It was pretty disappointing to not get over that finishing line, but I thought we fought really well till the end. We started off really well with the ODI series and we wanted to do well here with the T20,” Sharma said.
It was a timely knock from Munro, whose position in the New Zealand side ahead of the World Cup had been in question after a string of failures in the ODI and T20 matches against India. New Zealand next host Bangladesh in a series of three one-day games and three Test matches.