Vikrant Shekhawat : Nov 18, 2021, 11:13 AM
Cricket Desk: India and New Zealand locked horns in the first T20I of the three-match series in Jaipur on Wednesday (November 17). After being put in to bat first, the visitors got off to a poor start with Bhuvneshwar Kumar pegging back Daryl Mitchell’s middle-stump in the first over itself. However, Martin Guptill and Mark Chapman batted superbly to help the Kiwis recover and post a competitive total on the board.Guptill was exceptional in particular as he smacked sixes at will after spending time in the middle and come the death overs, the man was set to go big. The last quarter of New Zealand’s innings started the same way, as the opening batter hit sixes off Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar.A little ‘eye’-catching banter took place in the middle when Guptill hit Chahar for a huge six off the first ball in the 18th over. The length delivery was thrashed by the batter and stared at the bowler who just walked back to his bowling mark after getting pummelled.
However, it didn’t take much time for Deepak Chahar to make a comeback. Again a length delivery but a little slower this time and Martin Guptill looked to club it again for a six only to not middle it as he would’ve liked. Shreyas Iyer did well to catch the ball and it was time for Chahar now to give the death stare back to the Kiwi batter. Nothing was said in the middle but there was a battle going on and the bowler eventually won it.Hilariously, after the match, Deepak Chahar was also won the ‘Kamaal ka Moment’ award for his stare and ended up winning INR 1 lakh. Smile was evident on his face for the same reason even as India had won the match in the final over to take the lead in the series.Guptill lights up Sawai Mansingh StadiumHaving said that, Martin Guptill showed off his range of strokes after a slow start. Mark Chapman was the one who got more strike after the first wicket fell in the opening over. Guptill had faced only 20-odd deliveries until the 12th over began. This is when he began to play his shots making sure the visitors got to a decent total on a flat pitch on offer in Jaipur.The man batted really well to smack 70 runs off 42 balls with three fours and four massive sixes. Chapman also did well to score 63 runs off 50 deliveries with six fours and a couple of maximums. On the back of half-centuries from these two, New Zealand managed to post 164 runs in their 20 overs for the loss of six wickets.That stare @deepak_chahar9 gave to Martin Guptill. 🔥#IndiaVsNewZealand pic.twitter.com/g3OR30cYvZ
— Dheeraj.S.S (@therealdheera) November 17, 2021