Last Updated on 7 years by Charbel Coorey

Well, well, well! Who saw this coming?

New Zealand returned serve in the 2nd T20I, thumping India by 40 runs. Colin Munro, part of the New Zealand “big four” that had to step up if they were to be a chance, made he India pay for their awful performance in the field. He was absolutely superb, taking it to India and scoring his second T20I hundred for 2017.

India fielded as if they were competing in the “who could field worse” competition with 1st T20I New Zealand. India saw New Zealand’s dropped catches in the last game, and then offered their own dropped catches and missed run outs, coupled with some really poor bowling. Were India complacent?

India had a poor time in the field

For New Zealand, Munro was well supported by Martin Guptill, who finally made a significant contribution, as New Zealand put on 105 for the first wicket. The middle overs were carnage, where New Zealand at one point scored 83 runs in 38 balls. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Virat Kohli all then tried their best but it was to no avail.

We’re going to another decider.

4 – Colin Munro become the 4th player in history to score two T20I hundreds, after Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis and Brendon McCullum. In the process, Munro became the 1st player to score two T20I hundreds in the same year, after he scored a 54-ball hundred against Bangladesh in January this year.

Colin Munro had a fine night out for New Zealand

2nd highest run-scorer in T20I history – India may have lost, but Virat Kohli played yet another fine innings. His 65 (42) elevated him to number two on the list of all-time run scorers, overtaking Tillakaratne Dilshan. Only Brendon McCullum (2140 runs) has more. Also, during his innings, he became the first ever Indian to score 7,000 T20 runs, at an incredible average of 41.01 across 225 games.

53.97 – Virat Kohli’s average in T20Is. Out of the top 20 run scorers in T20Is, the next best average is 36.95 by JP Duminy.

Virat Kohli continued his special form, but it wasn’t enough

52 vs 142 – Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah conceded 52 runs in 8 overs at an economy rate of 6.50. The rest of India’s bowlers concded 142 runs in 12 overs at an economy rate of 11.83. Bhuvneshwar and Jasprit need more support in the next game.

6-1 – New Zealand’s record over India in T20Is after the thumping 2nd T20I win.

New Zealand’s 2nd biggest win over India – New Zealand nearly matched their 47 run win over India in the World T20 last year.

Another failure for Hardik Pandya – Do India look to drop Hardik Pandya? In another difficult game, he bowled one over for 14 runs and scored 1 run. In this series, he has bowled two overs for 25 runs, and has scored 1 run in 3 balls.

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Final thoughts:

India looked settled after the 1st T20I, but now have some key decisions to make. Does Hardik Pandya get another chance? What about Axar Patel and debutant Mohammad Siraj, who conceded the 3rd highest amount by a bowler on T20I debut?

New Zealand didn’t look settled ahead of the game, but made some important decisions that paid off. Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls were left out, and their bowlers and fielders stepped up. Trent Boult achieved his best ever figures in the 2nd T20I, after his worst performances in the 3rd ODI and 1st T20I.

It all makes for an interesting 3rd T20I. Who will take out the series?

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