New Zealand vs India: Washington Sundar came to bat at No.7 and scored 37 runs off 16 balls with the help of three fours and as many sixes at Eden Park in Auckland.
New Delhi,UPDATED: Nov 25, 2022 11:10 IST
Important to get timing right: Sundar after quick-fire 37 not out against NZ in 1st ODI. Courtesy: PTI
By India Today Web Desk: Washington Sundar said that apart from hitting the ball with power, one also needs to time the ball properly to score runs. On Friday, November 25, the left-handed Sundar came out firing on all cylinders in the first ODI against New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland.
Sundar scored 37 runs off 16 balls with the help of three fours and as many sixes. After Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan scored half-centuries, Sundar threw his bat around to give the Indian innings a lot of momentum in the death overs.
“All the work I put in worked today. There is some program that needs to be done before the ball is bowled, but there are instincts too… It’s very important to get the timing right, despite the power,” Sundar was quoted as saying in the mid-innings break.
On the back of Sundar’s knock, India set the Black Caps a stiff target of 307 to chase down. However, Sundar reckoned that the Men in Blue only got to a par score and need to bowl well to restrict the Kiwis.
“It’s a par score,” he added.
Gill and Dhawan put on 124 for the opening wicket before getting out in quick succession. Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant failed to make much of an impact. But it was a 94-run stand between Shreyas and Sanju Samson that helped India through to a decent score.
Lockie Ferguson was the pick of the bowlers for New Zealand as he picked up three wickets for 59 runs and also bowled a maiden. Tim Southee also got three wickets, but leaked 73 runs in his quota of 10 overs.