India and New Zealand took on each other in the second match of the three-match ODI series being played between the two teams on Sunday. New Zealand captain Kane Williamson once again won the toss and invited India to bat first. Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill opened the innings for India and were looking good until rain played a spoilsport.
The play had to be halted for hours before it resumed with revised playing conditions. The game was reduced to 29 overs per side. New Zealand struck right after the play resumed as Shikhar Dhawan handed a dolly to the mid-on fielder against Matt Henry. With Dhawan departing, Suryakumar Yadav entered the arena.
While the swashbuckling batter took some time to adjust, he played a couple of breathtaking shots once Yadav was in his zone. Yadav hit an uppercut against Lockie Ferguson to bring the first boundary for himself. And then he unleashed his unorthodox shots. The batter slog-swept Mitchell Santner for a massive six which was also his first.
But it was the next maximum that Surya hit against Michael Bracewell that caught the attention of everyone. It has been a while since Surya started playing at the international level with the batter playing over 40 T20Is and over 10 ODIs. And the batter has been playing unorthodox shots ever since he set a foot in international cricket.
However, no one had seen Surya playing a reverse sweep. But with bowlers anticipating Yadav’s strokes, the batter pulled out the latest addition to his armoury. With Michael Bracewell bowling close to the stumps and cramping the batter for room, Yadav switched hands and played a lofted sweep over third man for a maximum.
Watch the video here:
The batter hit a couple of more gorgeous shots before rain halted the play again and eventually the match got called off. Now, the two teams will head into the series decider to be played on 30 November with NZ being 1-0 up.