Ind vs NZ 2nd T20: Unnoticed things from the Second T20 between India and NZ

After taking a one-match lead in the series during the first game, the Kiwis took on the Indian team at Auckland for the second T20I.

The Blackcaps won the toss and elected to bat first in this extremely small ground. Both the teams fielded an unchanged XI and India kicked off the second T20I in a great style as they followed the first two economical overs with the wicket of last match's man of the match Tim Seifert.

Continuing this initial momentum, the Indian captain Rohit Sharma handed over the ball to Krunal Pandya in the last over of the powerplay. This turned out to be a masterstroke as the Baroda-born dismissed two batsmen in the same over. However, Colin de Grandhomme, the batting all-rounder took charge and upped the ante as he went on to score a half-century off just 28 balls.

The Indian pace attack bowled beautifully in the slog overs and didn't allow the NZ batsmen to increase the tempo. Despite some really good batting display by some Kiwi batsmen, the hosts were eventually restricted on the score of 158.

Chasing 158, the Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan came out to bat with the hopes of levelling the series. Whilst Shikhar Dhawan looked to farm the strike from one end, Rohit Sharma was in full mood to smash the Kiwi bowler all over the park. The visitors had a wonderful start as they were 50 without any loss by the end of the first powerplay.

The Indian captain soon went on to complete his 50 in just 28 balls. However, both the openers were soon sent back to the pavilion at regular intervals. After their dismissal, Vijay Shankar looked in a great form but was dismissed by Daryl Mitchell. Rishabh Pant and MS Dhoni then combined together and steadily took India to finish line with 8 balls to spare and took India to victory.

Here are a few incidents that might have gone unnoticed:

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1) Krunal Pandya became the 1st Indian bowler to pick 3 wickets in a T20I match in NZ

Krunal Pandya

Krunal Pandya's performance has been quite good in recent times. Although the lad has had a short international career till now, he has done well in almost all the international matches played by him. The 27-year-old all-rounder has played 7 T20I matches and has taken 9 wickets till today.

Krunal played brilliantly in the 2nd T20I against New Zealand as well. The Baroda-born took 3 crucial wickets in the match. In his 4-over spell, the senior Pandya conceded 28 runs and dismissed dangerous-looking batsmen like Colin Munro, Daryl Mitchell and Kane Williamson. He was also the second most economical bowler from India's side. He also became the only bowler to pick 3 wickets in a T20I on the Kiwi soil.

2) Rohit Sharma achieved a number of milestones in the 2nd T20I

Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma has been in the form of his life in white ball cricket. The Mumbai-born is arguably the greatest limited overs player for India at the moment and has simply been outstanding ever since he was promoted as an opener in ODIs.

Rohit is currently leading the Indian team in the T20I series. Despite failing to score in the first game, the 30-year old started the second game on a high. The Indian captain scored 50 runs in just 29 balls in the match and played a very crucial role in India's first T20 win in New Zealand. He also achieved quite a few milestones with this knock. He became the highest run-scorer (22988*) in the history of T20Is. He also achieved the feat of scoring most no. of half centuries (20) in T20Is. He is now the only cricketer from India to hit 200 sixes in T20Is.

3) Indian bowlers conceded just 29 runs in death overs

Indian bowlers bowled really well

There is no denying to the fact that the Indian team, currently, possesses one of the best bowling line-ups in the world. Be it white ball cricket or red ball cricket, the team has a world-class bowling line-up consisting of some star players. From the last 5 years, there have been some considerable changes in the mindset of our bowlers and right now, they are our biggest strength.

Today was yet another day where our bowlers restricted the opponents and didn't let them score big. Despite not having key bowlers like Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah, the bowling unit made a wonderful comeback in the end. During the second T20I, Colin De Grandhomme entered the ground during the middle overs and started to increase the run rate. The all-rounder started to play a blinder of an innings.

He scored 50 runs in just 28 balls at a whopping strike rate of 179. But our pace battery then took the charge and not only dismissed him in the 16th over but also made sure that the opponents do not post a high target. They conceded only 29 runs off the last 4 overs and restricted the Kiwis under the 160-run mark.