sky
Cricket

“India have always produced amazing cricketers not only in T20 cricket but across all three formats,” says Tim Southee

Suryakumar Yadav hit a magnificent 111 not out off 51 balls in the second T20I at the Bay Oval on Sunday, earning accolades from New Zealand spinner Tim Southee.

Suryakumar’s stunning innings of 11 boundaries and seven sixes overshadowed Southee’s second T20I hat-trick, in which he dismissed India skipper Hardik Pandya, Deepak Hooda, and Washington Sundar in the 20th over.

Yadav hit his second T20I century off 49 deliveries and remained undefeated to help India to a match-winning score of 191-6 in 20 overs.

Southee stated at the post-match news conference that Yadav’s knock was “miles away” from anything seen at Mount Maunganui on Sunday, and that it was crucial.

Southee believed that the hundred was the deciding factor between the two teams.

“Anytime a T20 player gets a hundred in a match, it’s quite often the difference. You look at the rest of the side and the way we sort of batted, his innings was miles apart from anything else we saw today. Probably made them get to a score that was probably a little bit more than what we were hoping for. It was an exceptional innings and it was the difference between restricting India to 175-180 and then getting above 190,” Southee told reporters.

“He’s a player that can hit you and hurt you in a number of areas. He’s had a great 12-18 months in IPL, international cricket. Came up against a pretty impressive knock today. The guys will reassess and come up with something for Napier. Sky’s had a great 12 months,” he added.

During the powerplay, the Black Caps did not pose a danger to the Indian hitters. It was already the 10th over of the innings and 69 runs had been scored when they managed to remove openers Ishan Kishan and Rishabh Pant.

“It’s there for him to continue to do so and continue to play the way he has. But you look at guys that have played for a long period of time and achieved so much over a long period of time … India have always produced amazing cricketers not only in T20 cricket but across all three formats,” he continued.

Southee, who completed his second T20I hat-trick, lauded India’s bowling performance for allowing them to strike frequently and thought they needed a partnership to reduce that total.

“That’s probably the way to sum it up – never really got going. Anytime it looked like it was about to get going, we lost a wicket. That’s credit to the way India bowled. They had a decent score on the board. If you’re able to take regular wickets and early wickets, then that makes that score even bigger. Just not able to get going and when you’re chasing a score like that, you need to blunt it with a decent partnership at some stage.”

When asked about his hat-trick, Southee dismissed it, claiming that the urgency of the final overs made things easier for bowlers.

“It’s lovely… I got a little lucky on the last over, which can happen. They’d sneak over the fence and go for six another day. It’s lovely when it happens, but it all goes back to normal after a day or two. It is a component of cricket,” Southee explained.

After the first T20I was rained off, India leads the three-match series 1-0. The third and final Twenty20 International will be played on Tuesday.

 

Farzeen K

Farzeen K

farzeen

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.