5 Times Team India scripted memorable wins from the brink of defeat

2. Shami’s yorker and Rohit’s nonchalance trumps Kane Williamson’s masterclass

Occasion: 3rd T20I of the 5-match series, 2020; India won via Super-Over

There is something about New Zealand, Ian Smith and Super-Overs and Wednesday’s encounter was just another example of it. But, how did the game go there in the first place? Chasing 180, Kane Williamson [95 off 48 balls] was playing like a Ferrari on a highway. He had taken India’s best bowler- world’s best white-ball bowler- Jasprit Bumrah to the cleaners, was hitting the ball like a dream; had racked up his highest-ever T20I score and most number of sixes in a single innings in the shortest format and had reduced the target to 2 off just 3 balls when he was eventually dismissed by Mohammed Shami.

But, New Zealand still found a way to tie the game. With just a single required off the final delivery, Shami, who had previously bowled back-of-a-length deliveries in the over, switched to Plan A and nailed a brute of a yorker against Ross Taylor. The match ended in a tie, and once again it was Ian Smith calling the shots in the commentary box.

Jasprit Bumrah’s bad day in the office was testified to the hilt when Williamson and Guptill hammered 17 runs off him in the Super-Over. India needed 17 to enforce another Super-Over but with the first four deliveries yielding ten runs, even that was out of the picture.

Rohit Sharma, who had played so brilliantly in the actual game, survived a definite run-out chance on the very first ball of the Super-Over when Tim Siefert failed to collect the ball. And, Rohit made the Kiwis pay for it. With 10 required off the last 2 deliveries, he nailed Southee for back-to-back sixes, paving way for yet another iconic anecdote from the legendary Ian Smith –“He hits big, he hits too big. He’s done it! Sharma has done it! India is delirious. Unbelievable scenes of joy again and New Zealand have to go down on their knees and suffer once more.”