IND vs NZ T20: Surface under fire

Updated On: 31 January, 2023 10:22 AM IST | Lucknow | Santosh Suri

India bowling coach Mhambrey mum on Lucknow pitch after skipper Hardik Pandya calls it a ‘shocker’ as both teams struggle for fluency in second T20

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India’s skipper Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav (right) during their partnership against New Zealand at Lucknow on Sunday. Pic/AFP

More often than not, it’s the quality of the pitch that dictates a cricket match. That was the case on Sunday at the Ekana Stadium on a pitch that afforded turn and bounce to the spinners. The New Zealand team who generally rely on quality pace bowlers, used their spinners for 17 overs. Thus, a target of a mere 100 seemed like climbing Mt Everest for the Indian team. Although they won by six wickets, the match went down to the wire with the winning boundary by Suryakumar Yadav coming off the penultimate delivery.

Played the extra spinner

India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey wasn’t too harsh on the nature of the surface. “The curator is the right person to answer that question [on the pitch]. But definitely, we knew it would be a big challenge and luckily we controlled the game. It was due to the dry nature of the pitch India went in with an extra spinner in Yuzi [Chahal] and why the batsmen struggled to bat fluently. Thus, the low-scoring game went [down] to the wire,” Mhambrey said in the post-match press conference.

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