IND VS NZ - 1st T20I, New Zealand tour of India, 2021

A win to start off for the Rohit-Dravid combo as they aim to seal the series in Ranchi on Friday. New Zealand will look to bounce back and will also hope to win the toss with dew likely to play part in the second half of the game. Do remember to join us for that. Same place, same time. See you soon!!

Suryakumar Yadav | Player of the Match: I have not been doing anything different, just being myself whatever I have doing since the last 3-4 years. I bat the same way in the nets and replicate the same in the middle. I try and put a lot of pressure on myself in the nets, for example if I get out I just try to come out of the nets and try and think what better I could have done and it really helps when I play in the middle. The ball was coming on nicely with the dew coming in and later on it became really slow but in the end happy to be on the winning side. I would have loved to finish the game but that's how you learn and move forward. About Trent, It's my wife's birthday also and it's a perfect gift from him

Rohit Sharma | India skipper: Towards the end we saw it wasn't easy, was a great learning for the guys because those guys haven't batted in that situation before for India. It was great learning for them to understand what needs to be done, it's not about power hitting all the time and you try and put the ball to the left or right of the fielder and try and take singles or find boundaries. As a team we are happy that those guys got to bat in that situation and finished the game off. Technically was a good game, missing a few players and to come and see what the new players have in terms of ability and I think the way we pulled it back in the last 3-4 overs was magnificent. In the end it was a great effort from all our bowlers. They (Ashwin and Axar) bowl in tandem for the Delhi Capitals and they are always looking to take wickets which is a good sign and it's important to try and put the brakes and those guys do that. Surya batted birlliantly and that's how he plays, he played some percentage shots as well and plays spin really well and uses the pace well for the fast bowlers. We (Boult and I) played a lot of cricket together and he knows my weakness and I know his strength, it's a good fight between the two. When I captain him I always tell him to bluff, and that's exactly what he did. He put the mid-wicket back and put the fine leg up and I knew he was gonna bowl a bouncer and I was just trying to put it over the fielder but unfortunately there wasn't much pace on the ball.

Tim Southee | New Zealand skipper: You always want to come out on the right side of the result. We played our best cricket and took it deep. Mark Chapman hasn't played a lot of cricket of late, and to play the way he played was very pleasing to the side. It was a game of fine margins. It was a good score, we wanted to start well with the ball but we did well to claw back in the middle and obviously Mitch Santner was outstanding with the ball and to take it deep and take it to the last over I guess that was a positive as well. It's always tough with different grounds and stuff like that but we set high expectations ourselves, a little bit off in the field and it's an area we pride ourselves on and that we have been very good at in the last few months. It's always tough, Daryl has got a lot of training and always wants to bowl but probably didn't leave him enough runs in the end. Guptill played nicely, Santner showed his class as well.

R Ashwin: The slower you bowled, there was more purchase you got on this pitch. If you hit the seam and tossed it up, it did do things like Santner showed in the second innings. It's tricky in T20s, you can't miss your lengths and you don't know when to toss it up but here it did help to give it some air. It was a slightly under-par score and we thought 170-180 would be par. We thought we would cruise home around the 15th over, but that's T20 cricket for you. I bowled the first over in the powerplay, and figuring out the pace to bowl is important and it took me some time to figure that out. It's about varying to pace and knowing when to vary it. It's important to take each of the 24 balls as an event, and look at each ball in isolation and as an opporunity. You might have to play catch-up, but the batsman is trying to play catch-up and trying to play you too, so you can't get intimidated. It's too early for me to comment on Rahul Dravid's coaching style, but he's put the hard yards in through the U-19 level etc. He won't leave much to chance, and he'll be all about preparation and process, so that we can bring the happiness back into the Indian dressing room.

22:43 local: A quick handshake between Pant and Axar as they trudge off towards the dressing room. Coach Rahul Dravid looks calm and composed, much like his playing days. All smiles. India needed 23 off the last 4 overs with 8 wickets in hand and New Zealand just went onto prove why they have been in the finals of that recently-concluded World Cup. The pace trio of Boult-Ferguson-Southee went 2, 5 & 6 in their respective final overs, picking up two crucial wickets while at it and that meant the game was back in balance at the start of the final over. Unfortunately for New Zealand, none of their main bowlers (pacers) had overs left which prompted Southee to go with the part-time dibbly-dobbly bowling of Daryl Mitchell who had his moments of panic before Pant sealed it with a boundary...Right from toss to death bowling to setting an ideal template to bat in the middle overs, India got everything right bar the finishing touches which is something they might want to address in the next couple of games. Presentations coming up, stay tuned...

Stat: Ninth win in 18 T20Is for India against NZ; before today NZ was the only opponent against whom India had more defeats than wins in the shortest format

Daryl Mitchell to Pant, FOUR, bam! Waltzes down the pitch, picks up the slower length delivery from outside off and pumps it over Southee at mid-off to take India 1-0 up in the 3-match series. Plenty of power packed in that shot but Pant surely knew what he was doing and with no fielders straight he chose the right option and got decent connection to get the desired result...

Southee in a conflab with his bowler. Looks like they are making some field changes and Mitchell switches to round the wicket

Daryl Mitchell to Axar, 1 run, slower ball outside off, Axar watches the ball all along and chops it wide of backward point for a quick single

Daryl Mitchell to Axar, wide, nerves.,..nerves...nerves... Daryl Mitchell throws his head back in disappointment on seeing the umpire signal a wide. Was a fair call from umpire Virender Sharma. Slower and bowls it well wide of the tramline outside off as Axar slashes and misses

Axar Patel, left handed bat, comes to the crease

Daryl Mitchell to Venkatesh Iyer, out Caught by Ravindra!! Whoa! Pindrop silence. Pant cannot believe it. Venkatesh Iyer looks to be cheeky and attempts a reverse slap against a full and wide delivery, there's no pace on it and he ended up dragging it straight to short third off the toe-end. Are we in for a superover? Can New Zealand storm a comeback? Venkatesh Iyer c Ravindra b Daryl Mitchell 4(2) [4s-1]

Daryl Mitchell to Venkatesh Iyer, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Daryl Mitchell to Venkatesh Iyer, FOUR, debut nerves? Try telling that to Venkatesh Iyer! He maintains a solid base, picks up the 127ks length ball from around off-stump and hammers it away into the deep mid-wicket fence

Daryl Mitchell to Venkatesh Iyer, wide, pressure...pressure...pressure! The crowd find their voice as Daryl Mitchell sprays this well wide of off beating the attempted drive of Venkatesh Iyer

Daryl Mitchell, right-arm medium, comes into the attack

Venkatesh Iyer, left handed bat, comes to the crease

Plenty of discussuions in the New Zealand camp and it will be Mitchell to bowl the final over. India 2 hits away...

Southee to Shreyas Iyer, out Caught by Boult!! Straight to the fielder this time and New Zealand are back in this big time. No timing from Shreyas Iyer, tries to lift the fullish delivery straight and picks out Boult at long-off. Got it off the cue end of the bat and Boult did well to run forward and accept it in front of his chest. Shreyas Iyer c Boult b Southee 5(8)