Team India fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has bowled his first front-foot no-ball in T20I cricket after 89 matches. The veteran seamer conceded the rare extra during the first T20I of the five-match series against New Zealand at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Thursday, October 22.
India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bowl, bringing Nitish Kumar Reddy and Mayank Yadav into the playing XI in place of Shivam Dube and Prince Yadav. Bhuvneshwar, meanwhile, made an early impact with the ball before an overstep gave Tim Seifert a free hit.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar Bowls His First No Ball in T20Is
Bhuvneshwar Kumar began his spell with a tidy over, conceding just four runs. His three dot balls in the over also took him past Tim Southee’s tally of 679, making him the bowler with the most powerplay dot balls in T20Is among Full Member nations.
However, the Indian seamer overstepped on the first ball of his second over against Seifert. Bhuvneshwar delivered a back-of-a-length ball that shaped back towards the batter, who missed his pull shot. The umpire called a front-foot no-ball, giving New Zealand a free hit.
Seifert made the most of the opportunity on the next delivery. Bhuvneshwar bowled a yorker outside off stump, and the New Zealand opener got a bottom edge that raced between short third man and backward point for four.
The boundary also took Seifert past Glenn Phillips’ tally of 2,286 runs to become New Zealand’s third-highest run-scorer in T20Is. Phillips was also part of the playing XI and could add to his tally during the match. Bhuvneshwar conceded 17 runs in the second over, a costly turn after his economical start.
Most Overs Bowled by a Bowler Without Bowling a No-Ball in T20Is
Overs | Bowler | Team |
|---|---|---|
320.2 | Adil Rashid | England |
299.3 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar* | India |
299.1 | Shadab Khan | Pakistan |
250.2 | George Dockrell | Ireland |
238.2 | Saeed Ajmal | Pakistan |
Want to Have Fair Idea - Shreyas Iyer
India captain Shreyas Iyer said the team assessed the pitch conditions before deciding to bowl first. He also spoke about the squad’s adjustment to New Zealand’s weather and time difference following a quick turnaround.
“Obviously a quick turnaround, want to have fair idea about how the wicket will play, how much the bounce it's going to offer, and based on that we took this decision,” Iyer said.
Reflecting on India’s recent series against the West Indies, Iyer highlighted the team’s batting performances and praised the bowlers for handling challenging conditions.
“Well, a lot of positives, honestly, especially in our batting. I think scoring 230, 250 in almost every alternate game, it was a plus for us. And also bowling-wise, it wasn't easy to bowl on smaller ground and flat wickets, but boys showed a lot of character and that is the same attitude and approach we want to come here with,” he added.
India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Yadav.
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