India vs New Zealand 2nd T20I: Full List Of Award Winners, Player Of The Match, Stats, Post-Match Presentation

Lucknow, Jan 29: Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya held onto their nerves in tricky situations as India defeated New Zealand by six wickets in a low-scoring last-over thriller on Sunday (January 29).

Chasing a target of exactly 100, the Indians were made to work hard for every run and reached home on the penultimate delivery of a highly engrossing game of cricket at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow.

It was the first instance when a T20I game saw 30 overs being bowled by spinners as batters from both sides were tested to the hilt on a surface.

Suryakumar Yadav was the highest run-scorer in the match with his unbeaten knock of 26 and he was also named the player of the match. The right-handed batter - who is ranked number 1 in the T20Is - had to curb his instincts on a tricky surface and didn't hit a single maximum. No sixes were hit in the entire game.

Captain Hardik Pandya remained unbeaten on 15 and helped his team cross the finish line. Two Indian batters were also run-out in the middle overs and left their team lurch.

Ishan Kishan (19) and Washington Sundar (10) became a victim of a comedy of errors which could have proved fatal for them in the run chase had there been 15-20 runs more on the board.

Earlier in the day, Yuzvendra Chahal showcased his skills with the ball and ensured his team restrict New Zealand to 99 for 8 in the stipulated 20 overs. It was Blackcaps' lowest T20 total against India.

Credit goes to New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner as he rotated his bowlers brilliantly in defence of 99. The two teams will now head for Ahmedabad for the decider on February 1.

India vs New Zealand 2nd T20I Post-Match Presentation

Here is the List of all the Award Winners from the match (All awards carry a prize money of Rs 1 lakh).

ACC Trusted Player of the Match - Arshdeep Singh

Dream11 Game Changer of the Match - Hardik Pandya

Hyundai Powerplayer of the Match - Yuzvendra Chahal

Player of the Match - Suryakumar Yadav

Post-match comments:

Suryakumar Yadav, Player of the Match: A different version of SKY today. Adapting to the situation was very important when I went into bat. After losing Washy, it was important for someone to take the game till the end. (On his mix-up with Washington Sundar) It was my mistake, it was definitely not a run, I didn't see where the ball was going. It was a challenging wicket. We didn't think it's turn this way in the second innings but it's important to adapt. We just needed one hit in that over and it was very important to calm our nerves. Before we got the winning runs, he (Hardik) came and told me 'you are going to finish on this ball' and that gave me a lot of confidence.

Hardik Pandya, India Captain: I always believed that we'll be able to finish the game, but it went quite late. All these games are important with the moments. You don't need to panic because it was about rotating the strike rather than taking the pressure. That's exactly what we did. We followed our basics. To be honest, it was a shocker of a wicket. Both the games we have played so far. I don't mind difficult wickets. I am all up for that, but these two wickets are not made for T20. Somewhere down the line the curators or the grounds that we are going to play in should make sure they prepare the pitches earlier. Other than that, happy. Even 120 would have been a winning total. Bowlers - they stuck to their plans and ensured they did not rotate the strike. We kept rotating the spinners. Dew didn't play much part in this. They were able to spin the ball more than us. It was carrying through well. It was a shocker of a wicket.

Mitchell Santner, NZ Captain: It was a great game of cricket. To get it so close was a great effort from the bowlers. If we'd got an extra 10 or 15, could have been the difference. The calmness of Surya and Hardik to get them over the line was pretty good. We bowled 16 or 17 overs of spin, definitely something different. With the bounce out there, it looked challenging. You are not sure what a good total is. 120 might have been a good score. The rotation might have been the difference.