India have been enjoying a dominant run in the ongoing T20I series against New Zealand. The Men in Blue made it four wins in a row against the Kiwis with yet another thrilling Super Over victory at the Sky Stadium in Wellington. Manish Pandey was the hero for India with the bat as he helped the visitors post a fighting total on the board after a top-order collapse.
Pandey came out to bat at number six and slammed a brilliant knock of 50 runs off 36 balls laced with three fours. He posted a 43-run stand for the 7th wicket with tail-ender Shardul Thakur to help India pull things back after being reduced to 88/6 inside 12 overs. India managed to post 16 runs on the board in 20 overs with the help of Pandey’s half-century and later restricted the Kiwis on the same tally to take the game into a Super Over.
“It has been our motto, not only for these two matches, that till the time the last ball is bowled, we won’t give up any match. If you play with that intent you will get matches like these where you might get a Super Over, and you win from there,” Pandey said at the post-match conference.
“And now we have an opportunity to make it 5-0 and it will be really amazing to do that. Come the fifth match, we will look to go 5-0 up, that is our plan. Nobody has done it before and especially India has not done it before. So, I think it will be a great start to do that,” he added.
Pandey also praised Shardul for his brilliant last over which helped India take the game into a Super Over. “We were ready for it in the back of our mind. We have very good bowlers and Shardul (Thakur) bowled a very good last over. For his effort, he deserved it that the game went into a Super Over,” he said.
India will now take on New Zealand in the 5th and final T20I of the ongoing series on Sunday and look to make it five wins in a row to clinch the series 5-0.
