Manish Pandey had to wait a long time to get a significant chance to bat time, as he did in the fourth T20I against New Zealand was a long time coming. Akshay Gopalakrishnan explains how he made it count.

That the right-hander can not only bat, but be a match-winner for any side he represents, has long been well-established. For the uninitiated, Pandey is a valued asset at the Indian Premier League, which introduced his talents to the world. He has routinely put in clutch performances for India A, for whom he averages a tick under 50, and has been a monster in domestic cricket for Karnataka, who won the 2014/15 Ranji Trophy title and have reached the knockouts in each of the last three seasons.

But such performances are relatively commonplace in India, and despite the promise, Pandey’s returns haven’t translated into a flourishing international career. He gave a glowing account of his temperament and ability to soak up pressure with an unbeaten century in just his fifth international outing, against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2016 to avert an ODI whitewash. It was the knock that seemed to confirm the arrival of a major talent, but since then, he has hit one roadblock after the other, plagued either by loss of form or injury.

Pandey had to wait 24 balls for his first boundary, which was once again manufactured by getting inside the line to make room and playing the ball late to pierce point. That Shardul Thakur was scoring fluently at the other end, reeling off timely boundaries, only aided Pandey’s cause, as he could now turn the strike over without fear and share the burden of scoring.

By the time he was done, Pandey had contributed 50 vital runs. It shored up India’s total to 165 and gave their bowlers a shot at making a game out of it. Once again Pandey also finished not out for the seventh time in his last eight outings, but this time he had helped provide the bulk of the total rather than just the finishing touches.

There’s a danger that Pandey’s contribution will be overshadowed by the drama that unfolded, as New Zealand imploded again and the match bled into a super over for the second successive time. Virat Kohli hit the winning runs. Shardul Thakur was named Player of the Match for his handy cameo and excellent last over. But for a man who has had to wait a long time to make himself relevant in this Indian side again, Manish Pandey had one chance to make his case. And he made the most of it.