India and New Zealand locked horns in the second T20I of the three-match series at Bay Oval and the Men in Blue outclassed the fiery Black Caps pacers in the first innings, much to the stupefaction of the Indian fans.
To add more, after being forced to bat first, Ishan Kishan and Rishabh Pant opened the innings for the Men in Blue. While Kishan made his way back to the pavilion after scoring 36 runs, Pant, who struggled to come up with the right shots, eventually perished after gathering 6 runs off 13 balls.
However, it was Suryakumar Yadav yet again, who outclassed with the bat and lifted team India from the labyrinth, as the right-handed batter reached the fifty-run landmark off just 32 balls and looked on course to get a big one.
Suryakumar Yadav shines yet again for India
However, post reaching the landmark, Suryakumar doubled the strike rate and eventually started finding gaps for fun, crushing the Kiwi pacers and going on to reach the 100-run mark in just 49 balls, at a whopping strike rate of 206.12.
The Indian batter looked on fire, thrashing the bowlers, scoring sixes and fours for fun, and eventually made batting look easy. At the end of 20 overs, India managed to put on 191 runs on the board and the centurion remained unbeaten after contributing 111 runs to India’s scoreboard.
The Men in Blue would hope to carry on with the momentum and outclass with their bowling and would look to take an early lead in the series. With just one T20I left to be played in the series, India would hope to win the match and look to clinch the series by winning the third T20I to be played on Tuesday. Prior to the start of the match, India’s captain, Pandya, said that the team would look to come up with a good fight and make a turnaround in the format and fans, on the other hand, were delighted with the positive intent from the Indian camp.
“To get a game, a proper 20-over game, is exciting. We still need to assess the conditions and see how the wicket is behaving. If the wicket doesn’t help you, and you try playing shots and lose wickets, and it doesn’t rain, you might be in a difficult position. We’ll assess the situation, and if the rain comes, we’ll reassess. I don’t think in international cricket, if you come, I don’t think pace or bounce makes a difference now. It’s challenging. But you have the skillset to cope up with it in international cricket,” Pandya was quoted as saying.
As things stand, let us take a look at a few Twitter reactions to Suryakumar’s innings:
#SKY is very clear….!????#INDvsNZ
— ?Anand? (@AnandMathi4) November 20, 2022
Unstoppable Surya ?#INDvsNZ
— Akshay Seth (@AkshayS51922385) November 20, 2022
#SuryakumarYadav 100*
what a knock !#INDvsNZ— Zafar Abbas (@zafarabbaszaidi) November 20, 2022
32 balls to first fifty and then 17 balls to get to century. Not allowed bro, illegal fellow illegal batting.#INDvsNZ
— Srivatsa Avasarala (@srivatsa_av1) November 20, 2022
Take A BOW SURYAKUMAR YADAV..
Just incredible batting…
He is making it look so easy to play behind square than it is..
The best Indian T20 batter of all time. #INDvsNZ— Jatin Khandelwal (@jr_khandelwal) November 20, 2022
Sky Aisa England k against Q nahi khela ?? congratulations for another t20 hundred. #INDvsNZ #NZvIND #NZvINDonPrime #Cricket #indiancricket
— Ashis Mahato (@TheAshisMahato) November 20, 2022
Mujhe bhi cricket ke cheat codes bata do Surya bhaiya pls #IndvsNZ
— Edgbaston pigeon (@lol_guard) November 20, 2022
SKY anna is the best thing happened to Indian cricket team ?
Unstoppable ??
Best player in T20?#suryakumar #INDvsNZ— Pallavi Yegireddy (@PYegireddi) November 20, 2022
SKY is the limit ?#INDvsNZ
— ZAHEER (@IaMZaheeR28) November 20, 2022
