New Zealand captain Kane Williamson rated Suryakumar Yadav’s blitzkrieg knock of unbeaten 111 off just 51 balls as one of the best knocks he has ever seen. On Sunday, Yadav played a brilliant knock against the Kiwis in the second T20I at the Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui.
The right-hander took New Zealand’s bowling attack to the cleaners after India was put into bat by Kane Williamson. The visitors got off to a rusty start as Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan struggled to find the timing.
However, it was not the case with Suryakumar Yadav as he was again able to hit the ground running. The 32-year-old batted at the top of his game and completed his fifty off just 32 balls. Yadav got to his second T20I hundred off just 49 balls as he took 22 runs off Lockie Ferguson’s over, with four fours and a six.
New Zealand’s bowlers had no answers to his onslaught as he was batting in a different zone. SKY smashed 11 fours and seven sixes as he scored at a splendid strike rate of 217.65.
On the other hand, all the other Indian batters scored at a strike rate of 100 while the New Zealand batters could only score at a strike rate of 104.42.
Kane Williamson also struggled to get going as scored 61 runs off 52 balls and the home team could not hit the straps in the run-chase.
Williamson believes SKY’s knock was the difference between the two teams as he said in the post-match presentation, “It was not our best effort. Surya’s innings was out of this world. One of the best knocks I’ve ever seen. Some of those shots, I’ve never seen before. They were outstanding, but we weren’t up to the mark. We didn’t get momentum with the ball, didn’t get enough wickets, and didn’t get momentum with the bat either. It was frustrating. Again, I’ll say about Suryakumar, his innings was the difference. It did swing a bit (in the chase) and India did well to get some swing. Important to look at those few areas and improve. Need to look at the small margins. Sometimes, special innings can happen, Surya is the best player in the world.”
It was another fine batting effort from Suryakumar Yadav as he helped India in posting an above-par score of 191 runs on the board.
The third T20I between these two teams will be played at McLean Park, Napier on Tuesday.
