EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE DELHI THE HINDU 18 SPORT MONDAY, JANUARY 27, 2020 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Rahul and Shreyas call the shots after bowlers’ super show Jadeja, Bumrah and Shami impress; New Zealand puts up an insipid performance to fall short of a par score; India cruises to a 2­0 lead in five­match series DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD INDIA IN NZ DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD putting it all together. On a Third T20I small ground, we knew if we were able to take early wick­ B Agence France-Presse January 29 (Wednesday), ets and try and build pres­ Auckland Hamilton, 12.30 p.m. DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD sure, like they did, then you With miserly bowling and never know.” another K.L. Rahul half­cen­ days!” when he lost the toss tury, India again outclassed and heard New Zealand Initial impression New Zealand as it coasted to chose to bat. “Bowling first For a brief moment at the a seven­wicket victory in the was India’s strength,” he start, it looked as if William­ second T20I on Sunday to go said. “We demanded the son may have made the right 2­0 up in the series. bowlers stood up and took choice when Martin Guptill On the Eden Park ground control of what we wanted to smashed sixes off consecu­ renowned for its short boun­ do out there. Our line and tive deliveries from Shardul daries — and which pro­ lengths were good.” Thakur in the opening over. duced more than 400 runs in India had an early blip But, for much of the re­ the first game on Friday — when Tim Southee removed mainder of the innings, it New Zealand struggled with Rohit Sharma for eight and was the Indian bowlers who the bat and posted a meagre Kohli for 11. But Rahul and were in charge. When Guptill 132 for five against a disci­ Shreyas Iyer, who set up In­ was dismissed for 33, he had plined Indian attack after dia’s six­wicket win in game faced 20 deliveries and only taking first strike. one, were rarely troubled in scored off 10 of them. Rahul cracked his second an 86­run stand to ensure Tim Seifert (33 not out) fifty in as many matches as victory. Shreyas was even­ and Colin Munro (26) were India reached the target for tually dismissed for 44, while the only others to pass 20, the loss of three wickets with Rahul was unbeaten on 57. while for India, left­arm spin­ 15 balls to spare. Despite the defeat, New ner Ravindra Jadeja had fi­ Zealand captain Kane Wil­ gures of 2/18 from his four ov­ Kohli delighted liamson stood by his deci­ ers. Jasprit Bumrah (1/21) and “Another good performance sion to bat first. “India were Mohammed Shami (0/22) today, especially with the outstanding with the ball so were also miserly during ball,” said Virat Kohli who it was tough,” he said. “But their spells on what turned could scarcely contain his there’ve been good bits in out to be a Super Sunday for glee, exclaiming “Oh, happy both of these games without Kohli’s men. SCOREBOARD CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC NEW ZEALAND son, 12.3), 5­125 (Taylor, 19.4). FALL OF WICKETS M. Guptill c Kohli b Shardul 33 INDIA BOWLING 1­8 (Rohit, 0.6 overs), 2­39 (20b, 4x4, 2x6), C. Munro c Shardul 2­0­21­1, Shami 4­0­ (Kohli, 5.2), 3­125 (Shreyas, Kohli b Dube 26 (25b, 2x4, 1x6), 22­0, Bumrah 4­0­21­1, Chahal 16.3). K. Williamson c Chahal b Jadeja 4­0­33­0, Dube 2­0­16­1, NEW ZEALAND BOWLING 14 (20b), C. de Grandhomme c Jadeja 4­0­18­2. Southee 3.3­0­20­2, Bennett 3­ & b Jadeja 3 (5b), R. Taylor c Ro­ INDIA 0­29­0, Tickner 3­0­34­0, hit b Bumrah 18 (24b), T. Seifert Rohit c Taylor b Southee 8 (6b, Santner 4­0­19­0, Sodhi (not out) 33 (26b, 1x4, 2x6), M. 2x4), K.L. Rahul (not out) 57 4­0­33­1. Santner (not out) 0 (0b); Extras (50b, 3x4, 2x6), V. Kohli c (lb­1, w­4): 5; Total (for five Seifert b Southee 11 (12b, 1x4), Toss: New Zealand. wkts. in 20 overs): 132. Shreyas c Southee b Sodhi 44 Man-of-the-match: Rahul. FALL OF WICKETS (33b, 1x4, 3x6), S. Dube (not 1­48 (Guptill, 5.6 overs), 2­68 out) 8 (4b, 1x6); Extras (w­7): 7; India won by seven wickets (Munro, 8.4), 3­74 (de Grand­ Total (for three wkts. in 17.3 with 15 balls remaining to lead Innovative: Shreyas Iyer has made a good case for the No. 4 In roaring form: It was a stroll in the Eden Park for India as it rode on K.L. Rahul’s knock.* AFP homme, 10.2), 4­81 (William­ overs): 135. the five-match series 2-0. slot for the World T20 with his shot­making ability. * AP ‘Learnt the art of chasing watching Kohli’ Shreyas wants to emulate the India captain on a consistent basis PRESS TRUST OF INDIA tricky run­chases. teammate Rohit Sharma, on the bowlers. That’s how Auckland “I personally feel that you who can demolish any attack you plan your innings when There is none better than Vi­ have a fair idea how many on his day. you are chasing,” Shreyas rat Kohli when it comes to runs you are going to chase “(I) Also (learn from) Ro­ said. chasing down totals in white­ and at what run rate you hit Sharma, whenever he’s The 25­year­old is known ball cricket, something that have to chase them. Virat given an opportunity, he for his penchant for hitting India’s newest No. 4 Shreyas Kohli is the perfect example makes the best use of it. All big sixes, but also under­ Iyer wants to emulate on a when he goes out to bat and these amazing characters in stands the value of rotating consistent basis in the com­ the way he plans his innings. the team set a really good ex­ the strike. ing days. I learn a lot from him perso­ ample for us youngsters. “You have to play all sorts With an unbeaten half­ nally, the way he grinds out “There’s a lot to learn of shots and take singles. As century and a 44 in the suc­ and tries to finish the game. from them and that’s what I well as when you want to hit cessful chases in the first two That’s the best part about try to apply whenever I go sixes, you have to be aware T20Is, Shreyas is fast becom­ him,” said Shreyas after In­ out there. I think that I have of the fact that you have to ing another reliable custom­ dia took 2­0 lead in the five­ to stay not out and it really create that moment for your­ er in the Indian team dugout match series. helps me grind throughout self. You have to give your­ apart from its talismanic Shreyas says he has learnt that middle period and self that time to get set. skipper when it comes to a lot from senior Mumbai when the time comes, I take That’s what I usually do.” Hunters finally get it right Vasant Raiji hits 100! Nainggolan strike scuppers Inter Sindhu, Sourabh excel in the facile victory over Warriors Atletico’s sputtering campaign continues with Leganes draw EURO LEAGUES als which finished the match Serie A: Inter Milan 1 (Martinez PBL Awadhe Warriors. The 2­1 re­ preceded the women’s sin­ with nine men. 29) drew with Cagliari 1 (Naing­ sult kept the teams in the gles, doubles specialist Sikki golan 78); Parma 2 (Gagliolo same positions — Warriors combined well with Ivanov Reuters Dismal 19, Kulusevski 34) bt Udinese Milan 0; Sampdoria 0 drew with Sas­ Abhishek Mukherjee sixth, Hunters seventh — in to script a 15­12, 15­14 win ov­ Atletico Madrid missed the LUCKNOW suolo 0; Hellas Verona 3 (Dawi­ the points table. er Shin Baek Cheol and Second­placed Inter Milan chance to close the gap on dowicz 19, Pessina 34, Pazzini Three Indian stars shone was held to a third succes­ An assured World No. 6 Christinna Pederson. La Liga pacesetters Real Ma­ 87­pen) bt Lecce 0. brightly to hand Hyderabad Sindhu defeated Tanvi Lad A closer contest was bet­ sive 1­1 draw after Radja drid and Barcelona on Sun­ Bundesliga: Werder Bremen 0 Hunters its first win in the in straight games as the Hun­ ween Sourabh Verma and Nainggolan, a player it day with a dismal goalless lost to Hoffenheim 3 (Klaassen­ Premier Badminton League ters took an unassailable Shubhankar Dey. Eventual­ loaned to Cagliari for this draw at home against 19th­ og 65, Baumgartner 79, Ada­ (PBL) here on Sunday. four­point lead. With her ly, Sourabh prevailed with season, scored a second­half placed struggler Leganes. myan 83). Sourabh Verma, P.V. Sind­ sharp play, Sindhu wore his strategy of “mixing it up” equaliser for the Sardinian There was little to cheer Saturday: Serie A: Fiorentina 0 hu and N. Sikki Reddy — in down her opponent as the as the determined Shubhan­ Old is gold: Vasant Raiji cutting a cake to mark the rare side in their Serie A match about as the match pro­ drew with Genoa 0; Torino 0 mixed doubles, alongside Hunters took an unassaila­ kar was able to retrieve near­ milestone as Tendulkar and Steve Waugh applaud.