IND vs NZ | Rohit Sharma's performance in first half and super over was outstanding, praises Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli was all praise for Rohit Sharma, whose monstrous sixes helped India navigate through the pressure and won the Hamilton T20 in style.The Indian skipper has also shared his sympathy with Kane Williamson, adding that New Zealand didn't deserve to lose the game after such a brilliant show.
Kane Williamson batted like a dream and not only he took New Zealand almost to the finishing line, he threw a spanner in Japsprit Bumrah's works - both in the death and Super Over. However, Rohit Sharma's two back-to-back sixes, following his 40-ball 65 knock up front, was the eventual marker line in a game where the hosts were the better team for the major part of it. Clearly wowed by Rohit's efforts, Virat Kohli showered his praise on the Indian opener.
"In the super over, New Zealand again put pressure on us. But Rohit was outstanding today, in the first half and in the super over. We knew, if he gets one hit, the bowler will be under pressure because he is such a clean striker of the cricket ball. Overall a top day for us and a beautiful game to be a part of," Kohli said in the post-match presentation, reported Cricbuzz.
The pressure got to India in the last over but Tim Seifert was more under pressure by playing three consecutive dot balls. While Ross Taylor forced him to take a single on the penultimate ball - a bye anyway - New Zealand levelled the series. But Mohammed Shami's calculative decision took the cake as the former Kiwi skipper was left clueless.
"Shami again showed his experience and put a couple of balls outside the off-stump. On the last ball, we had a discussion and we came to the conclusion that we had to hit the stumps because otherwise there is a single anyway and we are gonna lose the game. Shami went for it, got the wicket and the game turned on its head.
"When Shami bowled those two dot balls, I thought we could probably go to super over, if we get a wicket. In the super over, the discussion was that New Zealand will be feeling the pressure as they let the game slip away."
Kohli was all praises for his Kiwi counterpart, who registered his highest T20I score overcoming his previous best of unbeaten 73 against Bangladesh in 2017. While it could easily be called one of the finest T20 knocks of recent memory, he was unfortunate to have ended up on the losing side. Virat Kohli commiserated Williamson and praised his knock.
"I thought we were gone at one stage. I told our coach that they probably deserved to finish the game off with the way Kane batted and the way he led from the front. We got a wicket at a crucial stage. Kane came out and played a couple of brilliant shots against Bumrah who is one of the best death-over bowlers in World Cricket," the 30-year-old Indian batsman added.
This was India's first T20 series victory in New Zealand but with two games remaining, India will try for experimentation in Wellington and Mount Maunganui. Kohli made his intentions clear that they will go for 5-0 but is open to the idea of giving other bench players a chance in the next games.
"We will try to win 5-0. There are a couple of guys who are sitting out like Sundar and Saini, they deserve to get a game. The idea is to win the remaining two games," Kohli concluded.
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