Watch: In the second T20I of the three-match India-New Zealand series, comeback man Yuzvendra Chahal bowled three beautiful balls to Finn Allen, cleaning him up with the third.
The nature of the pitch became clear ahead of the match, in Lucknow, when India picked Chahal, not selected for the first T20I, ahead of Umran Malik. Hardik Pandya took the new ball himself, got Washington Sundar to bowl from the other end, and introduced Chahal in the fourth over.
New Zealand were 21-0 at this point, with Allen just beginning to cut loose: he had hit two boundaries in the previous over.
Chahal pitched his first ball up, on leg-stump. Allen’s forward defensive stroke would have been enough on most pitches, but here, the ball zipped past Allen’s outside edge.
The next ball was straighter, and Allen pushed it back.
Chahal pitched up the third ball further. Allen, perhaps having made up his mind already, went for a reverse sweep. The ball, too full for the shot, hit him on the back leg, then went on to the stumps.
The wicket took Chahal to 91 wickets in Twenty20 Internationals – the most among Indian men. He went past Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s tally of 90.
Two balls later, Chahal hit Mark Chapman on the pad and the ball went to slip, forcing a reaction (but not a review). The over ended as a wicket-maiden.
At the time of writing, Chahal’s figures stand at 2-1-4-1. New Zealand are 76-5 after 16 overs, with Michael Bracewell on 12 and captain Mitchell Santner on eight.
