New Zealand slipped to a heartbreaking loss in Christchurch as India, making a late comeback, secured a four-wicket win in the second T20I at Hagley Oval on Saturday. Defending a total of 181, New Zealand were on top following a brilliant spell from Mitchell Santner, who put the Indian batting line-up under severe pressure with a four-wicket haul.
But Indian players Tilak Varma (51) and Nitish Reddy (26) held their nerve to power India to victory. Sharing his thoughts after defeat, Santner highlighted how dropped catches and misfields cost them the match. Notably, New Zealand dropped a total of four catches to give Indioan batters a major lifeline.
"[Christchurch] is a tough catching ground, and the wind kind of swells a little bit. I think if you look at the skills of both teams, it's been very close, and it's come down to some small moments in the field. Especially us, kind of the back end of that chase tonight. I think we were in a very good position, you know, a couple of dropped catches and misfields. And that's the winning or losing of the game. I think from a skills’ perspective we’ve been playing some very good cricket,” Santner said at the press conference.
Santner also lauded the knocks of Tilak Varma, Nitish Reddy and Naman Dhir for the way the trio handled the things down the order and took India over the line.
"I think Tilak took his time a little bit today but managed the chase very well with Reddy at the end. If you can finish off games as a finisher, you're doing a pretty good job. I think it was a great knock from those last three tonight."