New Zealand set India 133-run target to win second T20
Auckland: Exploiting a slow track, Indian bowlers struck intermittently to restrict New Zealand to a modest 132 for five in the second T20 International, here on Sunday.
Opting to bat, the Black Caps could not generate enough momentum in the middle overs and finished with a sub-par total. Martin Guptill top-scored with 33 off 20 balls, while Tim Seifert was unbeaten on 33 not out off 26 balls.
Guptill and Colin Munro (26) provided a measured start to New Zealand putting on 48 runs for the first wicket.
Surprisingly, India held back Jasprit Bumrah (1/21) as Shardul Thakur (1/21) and Mohammed Shami (0/22) bowled four overs in the power play. The tactic worked as Thakur got rid of Guptill at end of six overs.
India then used the slow nature of the used-wicket to put brakes on the scoring rate. Wickets came at a regular interval as the Black Caps struggled to pull off big shots.
Yuzvendra Chahal (0/33) and Shivam Dube (1/16) combined well after the powerplay, while Ravindra Jadeja was the stand out bowler with figures of 2-18 from four overs. Overall, India also raised their fielding effort barring a surprise drop chance from Virat Kohli late in the innings.
Dube got rid of Munro in the ninth over while Colin de Grandhomme (3) failed to get going once again. Jadeja gleefully accepted his return catch.
The hosts were reduced to 81-4 in the 13th over when skipper Kane Williamson (14) became Jadeja's victim, caught in the deep by Chahal. The wheels had truly come off the New Zealand innings as they were struggling to get the big shots away and squandered their measured start away.
Ross Taylor (18), struggling for timing throughout his 24-ball stay was a prime example. Without Seifert's effort, including a four and two sixes, the score wouldn't have achieved any respectability. Shreyas Iyer walked off the field in the last over after hurting his left knee whilst fielding. India have a 1-0 lead in the five-match series after winning the first T20I by six wickets.
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8 dead, dozens wounded in Russian strike on Ukraine's Odesa port
Kyiv (AP): Eight people were killed and 27 wounded in a Russian missile strike on port infrastructure in Odesa, southern Ukraine, late on Friday, Ukraine's Emergency Service said on Saturday morning.
Some of the wounded were on a bus at the epicentre of the overnight strike, the service said in a Telegram post. Trucks caught fire in the parking lot, and cars were also damaged.
The port was struck with ballistic missiles, said Oleh Kiper, the head of the Odesa region.
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Elsewhere, Ukrainian forces hit a Russian warship and other facilities with drones, Ukraine's General Staff said in a statement on Saturday.
The nighttime attack on Friday hit the Russian warship “Okhotnik,” according to the statement posted to the Telegram messaging app.
The ship was patrolling in the Caspian Sea near an oil and gas production platform. The extent of the damage is still being clarified, the statement added.
A drilling platform at the Filanovsky oil and gas field in the Caspian Sea was also hit. The facility is operated by Russian oil giant Lukoil. Ukrainian drones also struck a radar system in the Krasnosilske area of Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
