{"id":250211,"date":"2025-03-02T19:04:27","date_gmt":"2025-03-02T19:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/02\/india-vs-new-zealand-shreyas-iyer-aces-the-middle-overs-grind-cricket-news-the-times-of-india\/"},"modified":"2025-03-02T19:04:28","modified_gmt":"2025-03-02T19:04:28","slug":"india-vs-new-zealand-shreyas-iyer-aces-the-middle-overs-grind-cricket-news-the-times-of-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/02\/india-vs-new-zealand-shreyas-iyer-aces-the-middle-overs-grind-cricket-news-the-times-of-india\/","title":{"rendered":"India vs New Zealand: Shreyas Iyer aces the middle-overs grind | Cricket News – The Times of India"},"content":{"rendered":"
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TimesofIndia.com in Dubai<\/span>: It took New Zealand just 6.4 overs to send India’s top three – Rohit Sharma<\/a>, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli<\/a> – back to the hut and the side was in a spot of bother at 30\/3. The last time the Men in Blue had a similar start in ODIs was back in the 2019 World Cup semi-final against the same opposition where they lost three wickets in just 3.1 overs. During the period between these two fixtures, no other side managed to see the back of India’s top-three quicker than what the Black Caps managed in the Champions Trophy<\/a> fixture on Sunday.
Early departure of the two openers meant Shreyas Iyer<\/a> walked out to bat in just the sixth over of the innings and then saw Glenn Phillips take a blinder to get rid of Virat Kohli in the next over. Three down, repair job to be done and Iyer dropped anchor!
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Showing a lot of restraint for the first 30 deliveries<\/a>, the right-hander was happy to soak in all the pressure as even singles were difficult to come by early in the innings. There was a passage in play where India went without a boundary for 52 balls and the scoreboard continued to move at a snail’s pace. The pitch was retaining its sluggish nature and smart bowling<\/a> by New Zealand meant run-making wasn’t a fluent affair. Runs, however, weren’t a priority then as India were in a desperate need of a partnership, and Iyer took charge of the ship and navigated it out of choppy waters.
It took him 31 deliveries to score his first boundary but once it came, the next two were scored in the same over and Iyer looked fluent in his approach after the quick bite and generous amount of fluids during the drinks interval. When spin was introduced from both ends, Iyer grew in confidence and stamped his class with sublime footwork. It wasn’t just restricted to moving forward or going deep in the crease, but also saw him go sideways on multiple occasions while facing Mitchell Santner who gave nothing away.
Iyer’s dot-ball percentage remained very high vs Santner as the right-hander scored only 11 runs off the 22 deliveries he faced but continued to play the situation, and aced the middle-overs grind to perfection. Having a left-hander in Axar at the other end helped as the two stitched a 98-run partnership to give a launchpad for the slog-overs specialists.
Against Iyer, New Zealand did lay the short-ball trap but the 30-year-old looked largely in control against the likes of Matt Henry, Kylie Jamieson and William O Rourke. He had an aggressive mindset while facing short music and attacked nearly half the deliveries which pinged the short\/short-of-good length mark. It was a sharp short delivery by O Rourke which got the better of him in the end but by now means was it a suggestion that the same old trick works against Iyer.
Having played a lot of domestic cricket for Mumbai, Iyer got an opportunity to work on his technique and has returned a much tighter batter. He had explained during the England ODIs how addition of drop-in shots against deliveries which are directed closer to his body added a lot of range to his game and allowed him to explore different scoring options. The results are for everyone to see as he has now hit four half-centuries in the last six ODIs for the country and the only low score came in the Champions Trophy opener vs Bangladesh.<\/p>\n

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It took him 75 balls to get to his half-century, the slowest of his career, vs New Zealand but definitely the one which would have given him a lot of satisfaction. With the side’s back to the wall, Iyer rose tall and reminded of his class as India’s No.4 in ODIs.<\/div>\n