4 talking points from India’s series-leveling win at Auckland

#3 India’s death bowling

New Zealand Black Caps v India - International T20 Game 2

After early wickets rocked New Zealand, the big hitting of Colin de Grandhomme and some smart batting from Ross Taylor brought them right back in the contest. The pair put on 77 runs at a very good rate and were looking good to post a very challenging total.

However it all changed when de Grandhomme was caught by Rohit Sharma at covers off Hardik Pandya. The New Zealand lower middle order of Mitchell Santner, Scott Kuggeleijn and Tim Southee came in and tried to hit a few maximums but some incredible death bowling made life really difficult for the home side.

Even the free flowing Ross Taylor couldn’t get going against one of the best death bowlers in the world right now, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

India bowled a lot wider and it was looking like a clear plan not to give anything in the hitting zone for the Kiwi batsmen, who like to get underneath the ball and heave it over mid wicket.

India would be even more happy that they could restrict the opposition in the end overs without a certain Jasprit Bumrah. This augurs well for the Men in Blue as we are in the World Cup year.