Team India 'We were poor with ball': Hardik Pandya on India's T20I defeat against New Zealand
Ranchi/IBNS: India's T20 skipper Hardik Pandya has felt his team's bowling was "poor" which ended up giving excess runs to New Zealand who came up with flying colours at the end of the first T20I match played here on Friday.
In a blunt statement, Pandya said, "... Actually the new ball was turning more than the old one and the way it spun, the way it bounced, it caught us by surprise. But somehow, we pulled it back and were in the game till Surya and myself were batting.
"In hindsight, I don't think this wicket was 177, we were poor with the ball and we ended up giving 25 runs more than the par..."
Daryl Mitchell's unbeaten fifty and last over 27-run blast helped New Zealand register a 21-run victory in the first of the three T20 matches at JSCA International Stadium here on Friday.
Sent into bat, New Zealand posted 176/6 as Mitchell (59* off 30) smoked three back-to-back sixes off Arshdeep Singh to make most of the last over for the Kiwis after the collapse in the middle overs.
In reply, India could manage only 155/9. India were off to a poor start as they lost three wickets with just 15 runs on board. Michael Bracewell bagged Ishan Kishan's (4) wicket and Jacob Duffy sent off Rahul Tripathi (0) and Mitchell Santner bamboozled inform Shubman Gill (7).
Surya Kumar Yadav (47 off 34 6x4s 2x6s) and Hardik Pandya (21 off 20 1x4 1x6) brought India back on to the track halfway mark, but the duo lost their wickets in back-to-back overs to leave the lower order with too much to do.
Washington Sundar (50* off 28 5x4s 3x6s) reached his maiden T20 half-century after taking two wickets for 21. If not for his innings, the loss margin could have been bigger.
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