India seamer Jasprit Bumrah was named Man of the Match for his figures of 2-9 off two overs

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

India came out on top in Thiruvananthapuram as they beat New Zealand by six runs in a low-scoring affair to secure a 2-1 series win.

With the match being reduced to eight overs per side due to rain showers and a wet outfield, India only managed to score 67 runs, but their bowlers rose to the occasion and delivered a huge win.

Being put in to bat first, India lost two wickets in successive deliveries in the third over of the match as Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma were both caught by Mitchell Santner off the bowling of Tim Southee for six and eight runs respectively.

India captain Virat Kohli managed to score a six-ball 13 before he was caught by Trent Boult at deep midwicket off the bowling of Ish Sodhi.

Even though Shreyas Iyer fell for six runs, Manish Pandey and Hardik Pandya gave India a boost towards the end of their innings as they smashed 17 and 14 not out respectively.

Thanks to Pandey and Pandya’s efforts, India finished on 67/5 off their eight overs.

Southee and Sodhi picked up two wickets apiece, while Boult chipped in with one.

Chasing 68 to win, New Zealand got off to a disastrous start as opener Martin Guptill was clean bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar for one run on the sixth ball of the innings.

Colin Munro was on his way back to the pavilion the very next over, while skipper Kane Williamson was brilliantly run out by Pandya for eight runs.

Wicketkeeper Glenn Phillips mustered 11 runs, but once he was gone, the Black Caps lost Henry Nicholls and Tom Bruce in quick succession.

Heading into the final over, New Zealand needed 19 runs to win, but despite Colin de Grandhomme’s best efforts, the tourists ended up falling short of their target.

De Grandhomme remained undefeated on 17 off 10 balls, which included two sixes.

Jasprit Bumrah was the most successful bowler with two wickets, while Kuldeep Yadav and Kumar claimed one wicket each.

Williamson was gutted to have lost, and said: “It was quite hard to know what a good score was on that surface. A tough match. A tricky surface. Runs on the board was handy. India outplayed us, although it came down to the last 2-3 deliveries.

“We showed good fight throughout, played smart cricket, but you need to be at your best to win here. That’s why this team is possibly the best in the world. A number of strides forward for us as a group.”

Kohli was delighted to have won the series, and said: “We were happy to get a game eventually. An exciting game. We expected them to give us a good fight, we were quite nervous as to whether we could get enough on the board.

“You need games to step up and finish off games, the guys showed character. When Pandya was hurt, I thought I may have to bowl those four deliveries.”

Bumrah was named Man of the Match and Man of the Series, and said: “The slower ball was gripping, after the first inning, Bhuvi and I had a chat about what will work. We saw they were gripping the ball, but our slower balls were not gripping. If you think about pressure, you won’t be able to deliver.”