IND VS NZ - 3rd T20I, New Zealand tour of India, 2017

Harsha Bhogle: I have really enjoyed the bonhomie and the spirit between the teams in this series. Possible to play cricket like that.

Thiruvananthapuram, thus, graduates to become a byword for hope. The groundsmen, on their invisible horses, strived through the evening while the crowd, glued to their seats by epoxy resins, perhaps, watched the drizzle with purpose. They put up a great show, despite all the odds, and we doff our hats to that. India sneak another series win then, which, in hindsight, will constitute that winning trail by that Kohli side. New Zealand were the good guys you want to get into a brawl with, and they were just that. More cricket your way, so watch this space. For now, Pratyush Sinha takes leave alongside Pradeep, Raju Peethala, Sagar Chawla, Venkatesh and Hariprasad. Have fun, ta-ta!

Kohli gets the trophy and the same old tomfoolery in front of the champions board, as the shutterbugs try to capture it all. Phew, end of another series.

Kohli - captain, India: "I think we were really happy to get a game. This crowd deserved to watch some action. Ever since the ODIs started, we expected them to give a good fight. We were nervous to start here, with the damp pitch. We thought if we can take the runrate up, it's not going to be so easy. Rohit and MS came up with Bumrah bowling the second last, and Hardik bowled the last over well. When Hardik got hurt, I was.. God forbid if I had to bowl the last four balls (chuckles). We have won a few on the trot and it makes us very proud. This stadium is beautiful, the outfield wonderful and the crowd made it special."

Bumrah - Player of the Match | Player of the Series: "It was a good day. Slower delivery was gripping, so we wanted to stick to a basic plan. I and Bhuvi had a chat before the innings. After watching the first innings, we saw them bowling slower deliveries, but our balls weren't gripping, so we had to bowl it back of a length and mix them with yorkers. I wasn't thinking too much, just focusing on every ball and on executing them."

Williamson - captain, New Zealand: "It's quite hard to know a good first innings score. Credit to the groundstaff and what an amazing staff. Glad to get some cricket. Tricky surface and runs on board on that surface was handy. It came down to the couple of deliveries. Shame to not get across the line in this decider. As soon as you ran your fingers on the ball, it made life difficult. ]In this part of the world, wickets can be flat. We showed good fight. You have to be on top of their game to win here, they are one of the best teams in the world. I think there have been number of strides forward for us. Fairly new group and it's not easy, guys coming here for the first or second time. It's a tough place to play."

Harsha Bhogle: Bumrah and Chahal continue to grow. Made a gettable 67 look a good score.

11:14pm local: We wait for the presentations here, stay put.

Ravi Shastri: You'll be lying if you say you aren't tense. Such games can change in the matter of 2-3 balls. Boys saved the best for last in terms of fielding. There was electricity on the field. We thought we could defend it. After we lost a couple of wickets, our aim was to get 65. By no means it's a match-winning score, but if you field well and start well, the pressure is on the opposition. Outstanding temperament from Bumrah. He's shown he's got all the tools of the trade. But importantly, what he's shown that he's a thinking bowler.

Pandya: "(On his finger) Right now, it's okay. After the game, I might feel the pain. (On bowling the last over) I got to know in the 7th over that I will be bowling the last over as it was tougher to hit the fast bowlers than the spinners. I had to keep my calm and wanted to stick to my plan. It is important to have a cool mind and to think positive. Crucial to back yourself. I knew one or two might go but we had the runs."

58 minutes to midnight: Take this Indian bowling and savour it on a pedestal. Times have changed. India had the disadvantage of bowling second with the demogorgons of dew around, and had to bowl to New Zealand batsmen who had a fair idea about the pitch. But Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal proved too formidable a triumvirate on a pitch that, to be fair, was difficult to bat on after all the rainy days leading upto this game. What surprised was New Zealand's panic, and their aversion to run the singles early in the innings. The plan seemed to revolve around big hits, at least initially, which, on a slow pitch, is a shameless function of power. And the power hits don't come off everyday. Not against this bowling line-up, nah.

Hardik Pandya to Santner, 1 run, a slow back of a length delivery slashed uppishly towards third man and India win by 6 runs, taking the series 2-1!

8 off 1. Stranger Things have happened..

Hardik Pandya to Santner, 2 runs, this had to be a six. And it isn't. Hardik Pandya bowls this full and is picked bottom-handed to long-on. On the bounce to Kohli there

10 off 2. What have we got, eh?

Hardik Pandya to de Grandhomme, 1 run, waits for the cutter and swats it behind the square leg umpire. There's fielder in the deep, so just a single

Hardik Pandya to de Grandhomme, wide, now bowls this well outside off. Trying to bowl the wide yorker length delivery here

Hardik Pandya to de Grandhomme, SIX, that's been shown the door to the moon. A length ball at 129ks, Hardik Pandya had done his all to take the pace off but it sits up and encounters de Grandhomme's bat fury. Over deep mid-wicket!

And he's back up already. What a sport. 18 needed off 4 balls!

Hardik Pandya to de Grandhomme, no run, that's not a dropped catch. Technically is but that was hit back with brute force. Full ball slapped back towards Hardik Pandya's left. Stops it one-handed and he's down. Pandya's in pain and the physio rushes out

Hardik Pandya to Santner, byes, 1 run, he's started well. Slower back of a length delivery from over the wicket, Santner swats and misses but they take the bye, still

Hardik Pandya, right-arm medium, comes into the attack