Christchurch, Oct 22 (IANS) New Zealand’s Bevon Jacobs said it was a thrill to open his account with a towering 96-metre six off the first ball he faced, as the hosts piled up 225/4 in 20 overs against India in the first T20I here at the Hagley Oval on Thursday.
Walking in after Daryl Mitchell’s dismissal in the 13th over, Jacobs wasted no time in settling in, lofting Arshdeep Singh high over the ropes to set the tone for a breezy 16-ball 31 that included three sixes at a strike-rate of 193.75.
“I mean absolutely. It was pretty cool to get out there and get started like that and continue on what the boys at the top left on the table, so that was pretty cool,” Jacobs said to broadcasters at the innings break.
The right-hander put on 73 runs off 32 balls for the fourth wicket with Glenn Phillips, who remained unbeaten on a 40-ball 82, before being run out when Arshdeep kicked the ball onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end.
Jacobs said having the experienced Phillips at the other end helped him stay calm while going after the bowling. “Look, I think I was obviously surrounded by a lot of experience there with GP going off as well and keeping my head on straight, and I think just the way I tried to make sure I could keep counter-attacking and build off what the boys had started on with that platform,” he said.
Openers Finn Allen and Tim Seifert had laid that platform with 65 runs in the powerplay, after Bhuvneshwar Kumar extracted some early swing. Jacobs felt the pitch offered the bowlers a little help with the new ball before easing out.
“Look, obviously I think with the new ball it’s always going to offer something a little bit more. There was a bit of swing and a little bit off the surface, but obviously as the ball got older I think it became quite a true surface, and the boys really made that count and obviously we got a good total on the board,” he said.
The total of 225/4 is also New Zealand’s highest in T20Is at the Hagley Oval, as well as their joint best ever score against India in the shortest format. Asked if New Zealand had enough runs to defend, Jacobs was confident the bowlers had their plans in place. “Absolutely. We know what to expect from the wicket and obviously the bowlers are going to have a good plan of attack to go about this next innings.”
–IANS
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