India vs New Zealand: Ranchi wicket surprises both Hardik Pandya and Mitchell Santner

New
Zealand
skipper
Mitchell
Santner
also
expressed
his
surprise
at
the
way
the
wicket
behaved
as
the
duo
said
at
the
toss
they
expected
dew
to
play
a
role
on
a
surface
that
seemed
batting
friendly.

Pandya
said
the
new
ball
turned
more
than
the
old
ball
on
the
surface
while
his
counterpart
heavily
relied
on
spinners
from
the
powerplay.

“No
one
even
thought
that
the
wicket
would
play
like
that
and
both
teams
were
surprised,”
said
Pandya
at
the
post-match
presentation
ceremony
on
Friday.
“But
they
played
better
cricket
on
this
and
that’s
why
the
result
end
up
like
that.
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.”

“On
hindsight,
I
don’t
think
this
wicket
was
177,
we
were
poor
with
the
ball
and
conceded
20-25
runs.
It
is
a
young
group
and
we
will
only
learn
from
this,”
said
Pandya.

He
further
praised
Washington
Sundar
for
being
in
a
class
of
his
own
as
the
southpaw
scored
a
28-ball
50
down
the
order.
Sundar’s
bowling
came
in
handy
too
as
he
finished
with
a
spell
of
2/22,
earning
further
backing
from
the
captain.

“The
way
he
bowled,
batted,
and
fielded,
it
was
Washington
against
New
Zealand
today.
We
needed
someone
who
can
bat
and
bowl,
gives
us
a
lot
of
confidence
and
it
will
help
us
going
forward,”
he
said.

India
vs
New
Zealand:
177
was
never
a
safe
total,
says
Santner

New
Zealand
captain
Santner
further
said
that
177
was
never
a
safe
total
but
Daryl
Mitchell’s
59*
gave
them
the
momentum.

“I
don’t
think
we
were
ever
safe,
170-odd
was
nice
with
Daryl
hitting
a
couple
over
and
he
batted
extremely
well,
we
knew
we
had
a
sniff
with
180,”
said
Santner.
“It
was
nice
to
chip
away
some
wickets
in
the
powerplay
and
we
had
trouble
doing
that
in
the
ODIs.

“At
the
toss
we
were
going
to
bowl
because
we
know
chasing
is
so
good
over
here
and
especially
with
the
dew.
That’s
always
the
challenge
(on
the
captain
using
himself).
You
don’t
want
to
be
seen
doing
the
easy
overs
and
stuff
like
that.
We
knew
it
was
spinning
in
the
powerplay
and
it
was
nice
to
chip
one
out.”

India
vs
New
Zealand:
Daryl
Mitchell
wins
man
of
the
match

Daryl,
who
also
won
the
man
of
the
match
award,
took
it
upon
himself
to
build
the
New
Zealand
innings
after
the
top-order
batters
told
him
about
the
curious
nature
of
the
surface.

“The
guys
who
went
in
early
said
it
was
pretty
difficult
against
spin
because
of
the
tacky
nature,”
said
Daryl.
“It
was
my
job
to
build
a
partnership
and
then
take
the
onus
on
myself
after
Conway’s
departure.

“For
me
it
is
being
really
present
and
really
clear,
keeping
it
simple
as
possible
and
trusting
my
skills,
not
everytime
it
comes
off
in
T20
cricket
but
it
is
always
nice
when
you
get
a
few
off
the
middle.”