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How NZ plan to halt India's charge in must-win second T20I

November 03, 2017 17:46 IST

'I think we are really lucky with the resources to take on most conditions in the world and hopefully we will do that tomorrow.'

New Zealand

IMAGE: New Zealand's players during the national anthem ahead of the start of first T20I in New Delhi. Photograph: BCCI

New Zealand leg-spinner Ish Sodhi feels the key to make a comeback into the T20 series against India is to slow down the home team's momentum.

The Black Caps lost the series opener at New Delhi by 53 runs and face a must-win situation in the second Twenty20 game in Rajkot on Saturday to keep the three-match series alive.

 

"I think we put up a fantastic performance in Mumbai (in the first ODI) and played pretty well for that win. I think the second game is the only one we kind of struggled with. But the third ODI was a fantastic game and I think we chased extremely well. We showed that we can play spin a lot better than sides that have come here in the past," said Sodhi at the pre-match media conference on Friday.

"T20 cricket is all about momentum and I think they put on a good partnership at the start (between openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma) that set up the momentum for the rest of the game. I think that's just about recognising those key moments and how we can slow their momentum down," he said.

"Every game we play, we try to put on our best performance and try to win for our country and we are going to approach the same way. We will come to the ground tomorrow, have a look at the wicket, distinguish how we are going to play and hopefully combat the conditions well enough to come out on top. Being 0-1 down in a series is always tough, but it's two games to come and we will have to give our best shot," said the Indian-origin cricketer.

Sodhi was part of the New Zealand squad that came for the World T20 Championship last year and had also spent quite a bit of time prior to the series by touring India with the New Zealand 'A' squad.

"I would like to think that I have improved a lot since the last time I came here. Generally, the driving force is trying to improve and I got two for 25 the other day (in the first T20I). It's been nice to spend extra time here with the 'A' team, so the acclimatisation  has been a lot easier since the last time I was here," he said.

"Regardless of the team we put out, I think we are really lucky with the resources to take on most conditions in the world and hopefully we will do that tomorrow," Sodhi added when asked whether there could be any changes in the visiting team's batting order.

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