India vs New Zealand: Colin Munro, Kuldeep Yadav top Hamilton T20I report card; Shikhar Dhawan misfires in series decider

The series decider at Hamilton turned out to be a humdinger as New Zealand beat India by four runs , the result not decided until the final over of the innings. Opting to bowl first, India came up against the Black Caps openers in the mood for some fearless hitting. The hosts piled on 212, buoyed by a 72 from Colin Munro and 43 from Tim Seifert. India seemed out of the game until a late blitz from Dinesh Karthik and Krunal Pandya got them real close to pulling off an upset win.

Here is our report card from the third T20I:

10/10

Colin Munro

While Munro was in his element early, his shot-making got a touch overshadowed by the belligerent Seifert. On 36 off 21 balls when Seifert got out, Munro took charge soon and belted Kuldeep Yadav and Krunal in turns. Khaleel gave him a life, spilling an easy catch off a Hardik Pandya slower ball and Munro made him pay with two fours and a six in the over. Kuldeep, though, brought an end to his innings on 72, a knock that came off 40 balls studded with six fours and five sixes. New Zealand would heave a sigh of relief knowing that Munro has found back his touch.

Kuldeep Yadav

The chinaman spinner returned to the starting 11, replacing Yuzvendra Chahal, and made an immediate impact. Amidst the onslaught launched by the Kiwis, Kuldeep stood largely unfazed. He removed Seifert with a wrong ‘un and then got rid of Munro by deceiving him in flight. His four overs went for just 26 even as each of India’s other bowlers leaked at a rate over 9.

9/10

Dinesh Karthik

Karthik would have aced this report card had he not encountered a brain fade in the final over with India needing 16. He refused to take a single off the third ball, with 14 to win, even as Krunal was striking the ball ferociously and perhaps gifted the game then and there to the Kiwis. His 16-ball 33, though, was studded with terrific shots and he showed unassuming calm under pressure, a major takeaway given that he is the ODI finisher for the World Cup.

Tim Seifert

After one shot too many at Eden Park, Seifert had learned his lesson and appeared composed and patient to start off with. His first 11 runs came off as many balls before a Khaleel over saw him go berserk. A four by moving to the leg and clearing the off-side inner circle was followed by a sweep for six through fine-leg. He and Munro took on Krunal for 20 in an over before Kuldeep’s wrong ‘un and MS Dhoni’s fast hands got rid of him for a 25-ball 43.

Vijay Shankar

Shankar walked in at 3 again and once again looked pretty good at the wicket, playing some wonderful shots and threatening to make it a big one. He was powerful with his hitting and smashed five fours and a couple of sixes — successive maximums off Sodhi in the eighth over — but fell on 43, wasting another opportunity to really stamp down his place in the side. His brisk scoring rate took many by surprise and the knock might well help him get a foothold in the Indian limited-overs side.

Colin de Grandhomme

The burly all-rounder walked in at No 4 to give the innings some momentum and bludgeoned three fours and a six in his 16-ball 30, taking New Zealand past the 200-run mark comfortably. Post finding form in the second T20I, de Grandhomme looked more confident out in the middle and played his shots with conviction. He, however, remained unused with the ball despite the main bowlers going for runs, showing that the skipper does not trust him to contain the run flow.

8/10

Mitchell Santner

Santner wasn’t economical but struck twice before India could assume command in the run chase. He dismissed Shikhar Dhawan in the first over and then sent back Shankar in the ninth over. The left-arm spinner is a handy bowler in the Powerplays but the Kiwis haven’t really been using him well enough.

7/10

Daryl Mitchell

Mitchell helped finish off the innings with a 11-ball 19, but he was more impactful with the ball on a surface where his change of pace and variations worked well. He got rid of Rohit Sharma and Dhoni and completed three overs with two wickets, giving away 27 runs. Mitchell remains an enterprising option in the shortest format of the game for the Kiwis but they might want him to showcase more of his hitting abilities with the bat.

Scott Kuggeleijn

Kuggeleijn was up on pace and hurled some really quick deliveries in his initial spell. But his biggest impact came when he got rid of Hardik with a quick short ball on the chest. The wicket pegged back India’s surge but the seamer went on to concede 14 in his final over (the penultimate over of the innings) to spoil an otherwise good day with the ball.

6/10

Kane Williamson

Williamson played second fiddle to the rampant Munro but kept himself busy by scoring at run-a-ball. He had kick-started his innings with a confident lap sweep against Kuldeep but wasn’t all that comfortable against the chinaman. Williamson punched and drove Khaleel for a couple of fours in the 15th over but fell to the same bowler for 27, pulling a slower short ball to short fine leg.

Blair Tickner

Tickner was mighty effective in the Super Smash with his back-of-a-length, hit-the-deck bowling and fairly straight channels. He was brought into the side on a surface where India had folded for 92 in the ODIs and appeared a tad nervous on debut. His short balls sat up to be hit and although he grabbed a maiden wicket — that of Rishabh Pant — Tickner would know he could have had a better day had he been at his Super Smash self.

Rohit Sharma

Rohit got off to one of his good-looking starts, but failed to convert it, throwing his wicket away with a wild swing off Mitchell that was edged behind to the keeper. With Pandya going well at one end, Rohit could have played the senior anchor role but at 38 off 32 balls, he was due a big shot. It just didn’t work out well enough for him on Sunday.

Ross Taylor

Taylor added the finishing touches to New Zealand’s innings, slapping a six and a four in the final over in a seven-ball 14 cameo. The Kiwis probably erred by not sending Kuggeleijn over Taylor in the final stages but the middle-order batsman did his cause no harm with a fiery knock.

5/10

Rishabh Pant

Pant walked in with India at 81/2 and looking to bring the required rate down. He hit a four and a six off his first two balls and followed it up with two more maximums the next over to race to 23 in six balls. It seemed like Pant’s long overdue massacre in limited-overs cricket had arrived but a couple of silent overs saw him lose patience and he slogged a full toss from debutant Tickner to Williamson at midwicket.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar was expensive to start off, conceding 11 in his first over as Munro thumped him for a six off the third ball. He came back better the next over but again leaked runs in the death, giving away 23 in his last two overs. He picked up the lone wicket of de Grandhomme to lend some respectability to his figures.

Krunal Pandya

After a ‘Man of the Match’ performance at Auckland, Krunal was pretty one-dimensional with his thinking while bowling and kept darting balls into the batsmen’s pads. He was smashed for 54 in his quota of overs and went wicketless. A strong personality, Krunal came back strong with the bat and clubbed a valuable 26 off 13 balls to bring India back into the game. Pandya’s all-round performances this series would surely force the selectors to ponder over his selection in the ODI squad for the series against Australia.

4/10

Hardik Pandya

Hardik had an off day, although he would probably say he was unlucky to not get the wicket of Colin Munro, with Khaleel dropping a sitter. His off-cutters and accurate yorkers were good at Eden Park but he missed the mark at Hamilton and leaked aplenty. He gave India hope in the run chase with a 11-ball 21 that brought the required rate down, but was eventually was caught at mid off while looking to pull Kuggeleijn.

3/10

Khaleel Ahmed

Khaleel removed the New Zealand skipper with a change-of-pace delivery but was very ordinary yet again as he leaked 47 in his four overs. A career T20I economy of 9.17 does not auger well for Khaleel and India might well be thinking of moving past him by the time they form a core group for the World T20 in Australia next year.

2/10

MS Dhoni

Dhoni effected a sharp stumping to break New Zealand’s opening stand and to send the in-form man, Seifert, back to the pavilion. However, with India still in the run-chase, he looked to launch Mitchell down the ground and was caught out for a single-digit score.

Tim Southee

Southee escapes from the bottom of the ratings courtesy a good final over, where he held his nerve against the rampant duo of Karthik and Krunal. The experienced Kiwi seamer leaked 18 in his penultimate over but redeemed himself with a good final over, in which he defended 16.

1/10

Shikhar Dhawan

Dhawan began his innings with a smashing shot off Santner, but fell two balls later, slog sweeping the bowler to one of the only two fielders in the deep. With a mountain to scale down, India needed Dhawan to be more calculated in his attack but he threw it away with a mistimed shot.

Ish Sodhi

Sodhi proved to be ineffective as he continued to leak runs with his leg breaks which were bowled a fraction fuller than usual. Shankar and Pant tonked him for two sixes apiece as his two overs went for 30. When Todd Astle recovers, Sodhi might have to fight for the spinner’s slot in this format too.

Rating chart: 10-9: Excellent, 8-7: Good, 6-5: Average, 4-3: Poor, 2-1: Very poor