Hardik Pandya's departure leaves India in a precarious situation during the 1st T20I against New Zealand

New Zealand off-spinner Michael Bracewell provided the much-needed breakthrough with the wicket of Indian skipper Hardik Pandya during the opening T20I against India to put them on the back foot in a chase of 177.

After Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed in the 12th over, Hardik wanted to keep the momentum going and went for a big shot against Bracewell in the very next over.

On the second delivery of the 13th over, Hardik tried to swing away a flatter-trajectory delivery that was bowled at the wicket, but only managed to sky it from the top half of the bat which was taken safely by the bowler.

Bracewell had to move to his right and eventually held onto a steepler. Hardik’s departure meant that Washington Sundar and Deepak Hooda were the last recognized pair for the Men in Blue.

In pursuit of a challenging target on a spin-friendly Ranchi wicket, India lost three quick wickets in the form of Ishan Kishan, Rahul Tripathi in Shubhman Gill. All of a sudden, there was some spice on the wicket and the both the spinners and the pacers were making life difficult for the Indian batters.

Then came the duo of Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya, who held the forte and stitched together a vital partnership to help India claw their way back into the game. The 68-run partnership came to an end when SKY chipped a gentle delivery from Ish Sodhi straight down the throat of the deep midwicket fielder.

At the time of posting the article. India was precariously placed at 127/7 at the end of the 17th over.

New Zealand posted 176 after being put in by Hardik Pandya

Earlier in the day, New Zealand posted a more-than-competitive score of 176 in their allotted 20 overs after being put into bat by Hardik Pandya. The opening duo of Devon Conway and Finn Allen got their side off to a good start as all four pacers, including Hardik Pandya, were taken to the cleaners.

India forged their way back into the game with some tight bowling from their spinners in the middle overs.

The likes of Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar and Deepak Hooda stemmed the flow of runs and ensured that New Zealand needed a blitzkrieg from somewhere to get to the score they eventually achieved.

The final over from Arshdeep Singh went for 27 runs as Darly Mitchell went berserk and smashed three consecutive sixes. Mitchell was also the top scorer with a 20-ball 59.