‘Anti-climactic end’ – Fans unhappy as third T20I between New Zealand and India ends in a tie due to rain

New Zealand and India locked horns in the last game of the three-match T20I series in Napier. The game was impacted by rain which delayed the start. After a while, the ground was cleared and the players were ready. It was anticipated that the team winning the toss, the teams would look to bowl first. However, much to everyone’s surprise, the Kiwis won the toss and elected to bowl first.

At the toss, stand-in skipper for New Zealand, Tim Southee said “We’ll look to put a good score and defend it. Can’t control the weather. It was not a great night and outside of SKY’s innings, our bowling was not bad. On the other hand, Hardik Pandya said “We wanted to bowl first anyway. We got what we wanted. [Grass on the surface] It will aid a bit of movement.

Meanwhile, batting first, the home team had a poor start as they lost two wickets for 44 runs. The likes of Glenn Phillips (54) and Devon Conway stitched a partnership of 86 runs for the third wicket. At a score of 130, the latter got out and it turned out to be a turning point of the game. From 130/2, the team lost their last eight wickets for just 30, i.e they were all-out for 160.

Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh took four wickets each.

India got to Duckworth Lewis Stern’s par score before the rain ended the game

In reply, the Men In Blue had a poor start as they lost three wickets for 21 runs. Rishabh Pant, once again failed with the bat as he scored 11 runs. Meanwhile, at 21/3, the likes of Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav kept the scoreboard moving as they took the team to 58/3 at the end of the powerplay.

After a while, the latter lost his wicket, followed by rain interruptions shortly after. At this stage, the DLS par score was 75 and India had scored that many runs. The game ended in a tie.

This is how Twitter reacted

https://twitter.com/RVCJ_Sports/status/1595004963943768066?s=20&t=zZ4Vtd9GdJz9Wmu-sIhYCQ

https://twitter.com/BLACKCAPS/status/1595002901541556224?s=20&t=IZrwr8ncr4zpur2MySKrEw

https://twitter.com/ESPNcricinfo/status/1595001995450253312?s=20&t=yGNEQvrUp3bhnlfg8nK8cw

https://twitter.com/RCBTweets/status/1595004741117149184?s=20&t=fcZWu8obq_hL_KtyF6ZEkg

India vs New Zealand 3rd T20I
New Zealand: 160/10
India: 75/4
Hardik Pandya: 30 Runs Not Out
Deepak Hooda: 9 Runs Not Out
Results: Match Tied (Teams score level on DLS Method)
India won the Series 1-0#T20 #T20I #INDvsNZ #NZvsIND #INDvNZ #NZvIND

— Sumit Rane (@sumit_rane07) November 22, 2022

https://twitter.com/Cricprabhu/status/1595004697961955330?s=20&t=fcZWu8obq_hL_KtyF6ZEkg

Rain-affected third T20I between New Zealand and India has ended in a tie. #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/MVMMe9MeqU

— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) November 22, 2022

No Sanju Samson still. Dravid may not be with the team, but being the permanent coach, I'd be surprised if his input isn't there in the decision making. #NZvIND

— Rohit Sankar (@imRohit_SN) November 22, 2022

This single run costed..#NZvIND #INDvsNZ pic.twitter.com/03WhqqDcJh

— RVCJ Media (@RVCJ_FB) November 22, 2022

1.5 matches in the three-match #NZvInd series. Young Indian Bowlers have given a good account of themselves. Not much to feel good about in the batting department except the brilliance of SKY.

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) November 22, 2022