Wellington. Indian fast bowlers broke the back of New Zealand's batting with their brilliant performance. The inexperienced Indian pace attack, led by Gurnoor Brar, who took four wickets, bowled out the hosts for just 134 runs in 41 overs in the second ODI on Saturday. Brar gave the best performance of his career, taking four wickets for 30 runs. Whereas Aaqib Nabi and Anshul Kamboj increased the problems for New Zealand by taking two wickets each.
Indian captain Shubman Gill won the toss and decided to bowl first, which the bowlers proved right. In view of rain and weather, the match was reduced to 47 overs per team. The Indian bowlers maintained pressure on the New Zealand batsmen from the very beginning and did not give the host team a chance to play freely by bowling a total of 176 dot balls.
Brar created havoc with short balls, took two wickets in one over.
Gurnoor Brar completely troubled the New Zealand middle order with his bouncy short-pitched balls. He gave a big blow to the host team by sending captain Tom Latham and Glenn Phillips to the pavilion in the same over. Latham caught Naman Dheer on the outgoing ball, while Phillips was caught by Anshul Kamboj. Brar took four wickets for 30 runs in his ten over spell. This was the best performance of his ODI career so far.
New Zealand's condition worsens in power play itself
Indian bowlers tightened the noose on New Zealand from the very beginning. Aaqib Nabi sent Tim Seifert to the pavilion without opening the account. Anshul Kamboj, standing at midwicket, took a brilliant catch by diving forward and giving Nabi his first international wicket. After this, Will Young was caught by KL Rahul after scoring six runs in 17 balls. Henry Nicholls was also bowled by Anshul Kamboj after scoring 11 runs in 26 balls. In this way, New Zealand lost three wickets for 29 runs within the powerplay.
Daryl Mitchell took over the innings, made a half-century partnership with Santner.
Daryl Mitchell held one end amidst continuous fall of wickets. He scored 55 runs in 104 balls. He also got a lease of life from Indian captain Shubman Gill, taking advantage of which he made a 59-run partnership with Mitchell Santner. Santner tried to take control of the team by scoring 31 runs in 38 balls, but Axar Patel ended the partnership by getting Mitchell caught by Anshul Kamboj.
Nabi and Kamboj also showed their strength
Apart from Gurnoor Brar, Aaqib Nabi and Anshul Kamboj also bowled brilliantly. Nabi took two wickets for 31 runs in seven overs, while Kamboj dismissed two batsmen for 25 runs in eight overs. Arshdeep Singh did not get any wicket, but he bowled economically giving just 16 runs in seven overs and kept the pressure on New Zealand.