Riding on brilliant half-centuries from KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, India defeated New Zealand by six wickets in the opening encounter and gained a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. The second T20I will be played on January 26 at the same venue i.e. Eden Park in Auckland. Virat Kohli and Co will eye to extend their sensational run in white-ball cricket by winning the next game too. On the other hand, the home side will be eyeing to rectify their mistakes in order to settle the scores in the upcoming clash. Well, one thing is sure that the clash will witness a close contest between the bat and the ball and below, we’ll look at some such mini battles. New Zealand Vs India, Cricket Score 2nd T20I Match.

Indian speedster Jasprit Bumrah twisted his ankle in the first match. However, the injury didn’t seem to be very series and the pacer is likely to participate in the second T20I too. Other than him, the likes of Kl Rahul, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer will eye to continue their purple patch. For New Zealand, Colin Munro, skipper Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor smashed half-centuries in the previous game and will eye to guide their side to victory this time around. Meanwhile, let’s look at some individual battles between the players which one can witness in the upcoming game. Ahead of 2nd T20I 2020, Here Are Match Results of Last Five India vs New Zealand Twenty20 Matches.

Ross Taylor vs Jasprit Bumrah

The veteran batsman looked at his prime during the first T20I as he brilliantly tackled the Indian bowlers and mustered a quick-fire half-century. He looked like sending every delivery over the boundary rope but wasn’t quite able to dominate Jasprit Bumrah. The pacer displayed his buckets of variations in the death overs and cramped the Kiwi batsman. Well, the two players will surely meet in the second match and will eye to get the better of each other.

Shreyas Iyer vs Ish Sodhi

Iyer wreaked havoc in the opening game of the series and made the mockery of the Kiwi bowlers. During the crunch situation of the match, the batsman rained fours and sixes to put a stamp on his side’s triumph. However, one bowler who looked like restricting Iyer was Ish Sodhi. The leg-spinner wasn’t easy to hit and was the least economical New Zealand bowler. He, however, wasn’t able to get rid of Iyer and must be eyeing for redemption.

Kane Williamson vs Yuzvendra Chahal

During the run-feast in the opening game, Chahal was of the bowlers who held on to his nerves and bowled a brilliant spell. On a pitch where other bowlers were facing the hammering, the leg-spinner gave runs at just eight runs per over. He even got the price scalp of skipper Kane Williamson but not before the latter scored a quick-fire fifty. So, both the players were able to leave a mark in the opening game but will eye to get the better of each other in the next match.

With the ICC T20 World Cup 2020 is scheduled to be played later this year, the significance of the ongoing series is even greater and both the sides will eye to identify their best combination in the rest of the matches. By clinching the first clash, Virat Kohli and Co must be high on confidence. However, the Kiwis has a knack of making a comeback and thus, the visitors can’t afford to get complacent.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 25, 2020 08:38 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).