IND VS NZ - 2nd T20I, New Zealand tour of India, 2021

So India bag yet-another series, and they do it with the age-old Indian trick -- choking out oppositions with spin. Two matches is too small a sample size to judge, and it helps that they've bowled with a drier ball, but life has indeed come a full circle for both Ashwin and Axar. From being regulars in the 2014-15 era when spin in T20s was all about finger spinners who apparently brought control, to being shunned in the post-2017 era for wrist spinners who apparently brought wickets, to this 2021 era where they are doing a bit of both. Hope you enjoyed reading us, as I, Vineet Anantharaman, sign off on behalf of Nikhil Jadhav, Ramakrishnan MS, Raju Peethala and our scorer, Siva. Until Kolkata, and perhaps a lot of experimentation, ta ta!!

Harshal Patel | MoM: The match did run through. When you are in the process you just get engrossed. It will sink in and it has been a great game. I couldn't have asked for a better debut. The progress is gradual and slow. For someone like me who is not exceptionally talented, I had to build my game from ground up. I made mistakes and then found things that I can and cannot do well. It has been a great journey and has taught me many lessons which will hold me in good stead even after cricket. I feel you don't need too many variations. You just need to know what works for you and need to package it well. I couldn't bowl those yorkers and loopy slower ones in these conditions. The yorker is a delivery I would like to use and get better at. I have seen myself fall into shiny things so many times. It is another platform for me to come, perform and show my skills. Just want to do that and enjoy whatever comes my way.

Rohit Sharma | Winning captain: Great effort from the entire unit. Wasn't the easiest of conditions but the way we applied ourselves was amazing. We know their quality of batting, they played some good shots to start with. But I kept telling the boys that it is all about one wicket. But we showed great application and temperament to restrict them. The quality of the bench has been amazing. They have been performing consistently whenever they get the chance. It is important for me to give them the freedom. The external matters will take care of themselves. It is a young team and the guys haven't played a lot of games. It is important that the guys get time in the middle. It is early to think about changes in the next game. Whatever suits team India, we'll do that. We need to make sure we look after the guys who are playing now. They haven't played a lot either. For the guys who haven't played, their time will come, there are a lot of T20s. Harshal has done it time and again, he is a very skillful bowler. Even in these conditions, he used the slower ball really well.

Tim Southee | Losing skipper: Credit to India, they pulled it back nicely after the first six overs. They played better cricket and didn't give us a chance with the bat as well. It was wet for both teams and it was only slightly more in the second innings. We knew dew would be a factor, but India were too good on this day. We will now go to a new venue, a quick turnaround, and we'll assess when we get to Kolkata.

KL Rahul about bowlers pulling it back: I think we did really well by pulling the game back after the first 6 overs, the bowlers had a discussion midway and decided maybe change of pace will work and they have to be brave with the ball and bluff the batsman a couple of times. Wicket was really good and the ball was soaking wet, so it was hard for the bowlers to bowl as well and initially it didn't grip as much as we thought it would and we played around with the field and really happy that we could restrict New Zealand for 150 odd after the kind of start they got.

Rahul about how Indian openers approach a chase: We always give ourselves a couple of overs to see what the pitch is doing and then try and assess what are the shots we can play and who are the bowlers we can target and at rate we need to go at. Just try and enjoy our batting and when we get a start like that there comes a time when both of us decide that both of us have to take down whoever is bowling and that's exactly what Rohit did and we try and build from him. We try and see what works best for us as a batting unit, we want to take more chances in the middle if we have wickets in hand and we want to trust our middle-order. We have a lot of exciting young players in the middle-order, Surya showed us the last game, and we know what Rishabh can do, Shreyas is in the batting line-up, Venkatesh Iyer playing his first series and for us as openers it's important to assess the first couple of overs and set up a good foundation for others.

Rahul about batting with Rohit: We (Rohit & I) both enjoy batting with each other, I always admired Rohit's batting. He is a class batsman and shown the world that over the years so I really enjoy batting with him and we really try to take the pressure off each other and if there is a bowler that I can't get away then without even me having to say it to him he takes down that bowler, so my job becomes a bit easier and we found a way to get runs at the top of the order and we want to keep doing what we have been doing and keep giving India a solid foundation and a solid start.

22:49 Local Time: It's only towards the end of the Indian chase that the Kiwi bowlers found a bit of their mojo. Alas, much like Jaipur, it was all too late. Also, much like Jaipur, it's the bowling that has won India this. 154 was at least 30 too few with the dew around, but Rohit and Rahul made it look like 50 too few. They took their time, didn't really have to take risks, and then like they always do, put up a show. They don't just get runs, they get beautiful runs. Apart from those four overs after the powerplay when the Kiwi spinners pulled it back a touch, the asking rate was never a problem. Although, again, the target was in no way challenging, Southee's tactic of bowling Sodhi for only a couple of overs, or him not turning to his sixth bowler to try and take pace off the ball was pretty confusing. Right, here come the presentations ..

Neesham to Pant, SIX, trademark one-handed loft into the sightscreen,and the prodigy finishes it off with a six in the master's backyard. Yea, roles have officially been handed over. He steps out, makes room, and uses Neesham slot-feeder once again to go through the line. 2-0

Neesham to Pant, SIX, sits, slogs, gets a lot of height, and distance just enough to clear deep mid-wicket. Very top-edgy, but the length from Neesham is pretty poor, it's right in the slot

James Neesham, right-arm medium, comes into the attack

Boult to Venkatesh Iyer, FOUR, another freaky boundary, with Boult getting it to climb big once again, take the splice on Iyer's poke, and fly through the slips

Boult to Pant, leg byes, 1 run, 135.1kph, tailing into the hips, past the glance off the thigh pad to fine leg

Sudipto Dutta: Good call from skipper Rohit Sharma to promote Venkatesh Iyer at no. 3. This should boost his overall confidence considering the fact he debuted for India only day before yesterday.

Boult to Pant, no run, 139.1kph, jags in off a back of a length, cramping Pant up for room, and he can only jab it back down the pitch

Boult to Pant, no run, sharp nasty bounce now. Well, well. It spits up off a back of a length, and smahes into Pant's thumb on the forward defence

Boult to Pant, no run, a loose swipe across the line, and this 141.7kph, skids off the pitch, sneaks under the bat through to the keeper. There is a sound though, and New Zealand won't mind chancing a review -- which shows the spike coming off the thigh pad. And too high for an LBW as well

A loose swipe across the line, and this 141.7kph, skids off the pitch, sneaks under the bat through to the keeper.

Boult to Venkatesh Iyer, 1 run, 132.2kph, full, on off, whipped to a diving Mitchell at mid-on

Trent Boult [3.0-0-31-0] is back into the attack

Rishabh Pant, left handed bat, comes to the crease