Hamilton: Team India made it two in a row as they beat New Zealand in the Super Over after the fourth T20I match ended in a tie at the Sky Stadium on Friday. It was pacer Shardul Thakur who did a Mohammed Shami as India managed to tie the game.
With seven needed off the last over, Shardul picked two wickets and there were two run-outs as the Kiwis lost the plot completely to take the game into another Super Over.
Speaking on Chahal TV, Shami and Shardul Thakur revealed what was going on in their heads as they prepared to defend nine runs (in the previous match) and seven runs respectively.
“I was planning to bowl good yorkers. I tried on the first ball, it slipped out of my hand, and it went for a six. I had nothing to lose afterwards. I was thinking how to get dot balls. I thought we have already lost, let’s try to bowl some bouncers. After Williamson got out, I thought that short ball will do the trick. With the scores tied, I had just one option on the last ball, to get a dot ball. So, I went with a yorker delivery and it paid off,” Shami said.
Shardul, who was named the man-of-the-match for his final-over on Friday, opened up on the pressures of bowling the final over, and his knuckle-ball, which got him a wicket in the over.
On the other hand, Shardul, who was adjudged ‘Man of the Match’, said: “There was a lot of pressure. I was trying to get a wicket on the first ball. Mostly, a batsman tries to go for four or six on the first ball to try and finish the match as early as possible. My idea was that I will give a slow ball to make them go for a big hit. The plan worked. When I was hit for a four on the second ball, then the pressure increased.”
“But in crunch situations, you can get hit for a six or a four, so I did not lose hope. We saw how Shami Bhai was hit for a six on the first ball, but then he defended 3 runs in 5 balls. So why can’t the same happen here? It can happen again,” he added.
