India's stand-in captain Hardik Pandya lamented a "shocker" of a pitch at Ekana Stadium and called for better surfaces after a slender T20I victory over New Zealand.
The hosts edged past the Black Caps with one ball remaining in Lucknow, winning by six wickets in a low-scoring thriller to level the three-match T20I series.
New Zealand only managed 99-8 from their 20-over allocation on a difficult wicket but made India wait until the final over for victory as Suryakumar Yadav saw his side over the line with a vital 26 not out.
Pandya, captaining in the absence of white-ball veteran Rohit Sharma, was alongside Suryakumar at the end unbeaten on 15 but expressed his disappointment with the surface at home.
"I always believed we will finish the game," Pandya said. "It went quite deep, but that is how it is. In these kinds of games, it is important to not panic.
"Rather than taking risks, we rotated the strike. Having said that, this is a shocker of a pitch. We need to make sure we have better pitches. Even 120 would have been a winning total here.
"We kept to our plans, we made sure they did not rotate the strike, and the wickets kept falling. Dew didn't play much of a role because if you see they were able to spin the ball more than us.
"It was a shocker of a wicket. The ball was flying for even the fast bowlers."
The in-form Suryakumar continues to rise his stock within white-ball cricket, though his 31-ball 26 was a far cry from his usual flamboyance and aggressive shot-making.
Having blasted 112 and 51 in his two previous T20I appearances against Sri Lanka earlier in January, Suryakumar acknowledged an alternate approach was required on Sunday.
"A different version of [Suryakumar] today," he said after receiving the Player of the Match award. "Adapting to the situation was very important. After losing [Washington Sundar], I had to make sure I batted until the end.
"[Sundar's run out] was my mistake, I didn't see where the ball went. Of course, it was a challenging wicket, but you have to be able to adapt.
"We just needed one hit in the end, and it was very important to calm ourselves down.
"Before I got the winning runs, Hardik came up to me and told me you will hit the winning runs this ball. That gave me a lot of confidence."
With an ODI series victory already secured, India will look for a white-ball double over New Zealand in Wednesday's T20I decider in Ahmedabad.
Harpy Eagles pacer Ronsford Beaton reported for suspect action, suspended
Ronsford Beaton, the Guyana Harpy Eagles fast bowler, was reported for a suspect bowling action during the ongoing West Indies Championship four-day first-class competition.
Beaton’s action was cited by match officials during the fourth round match between Guyana Harpy Eagles and Jamaica Scorpions at the Guyana National Stadium.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) confirmed that the Opinion Report by the Independent Assessor at Loughborough University, has found Beaton’s bowling action to be illegal and, as such, he has been suspended from bowling with immediate effect.
South Africa fall short of another big run chase as Windies take series
West Indies avoided a repeat of their remarkable, record-breaking defeat in the second T20I against South Africa by clinging on to win the series decider by seven runs.
The Windies had been on the wrong end of a historic run chase in the sides' previous encounter, the highest scoring Twenty20 match since the format was introduced.
But there would be no repeat in Johannesburg on Tuesday, even if Reeza Hendricks again made life difficult for the tourists after another strong Windies score of 220-8.
Hendricks was credited by centurion Quinton de Kock with inspiring the Proteas fightback in the second match, having contributed 68 off just 28 balls.
Missing De Kock's support, it was a one-man effort this time as Hendricks scored 83 off 43, not quite enough with South Africa falling short on 213-6.
West Indies had posted the second-highest T20I total not to include a single fifty but were also themselves grateful for the work of one batter in particular.
In a blockbuster conclusion to the first innings, Romario Shepherd had scored 26 from the final over to top-score with 44 from only 22 balls – the knock that ultimately proved the difference.
Phenomenal finish sees Windies safe
South Africa handed the ball to Kagiso Rabada with some confidence ahead of the 20th over, with the bowling superstar having restricted the Windies to 2-24 from his previous three overs.
Yet Shepherd, twice put down by De Kock, smashed Rabada all around the ground to set a daunting target. As a result, the Proteas needed to match Shepherd with 26 off the last but could only manage 18.
Repeat proves beyond Proteas
While Hendricks remained in the middle, it appeared very possible South Africa would pull off another stunning recovery. It would have been a record-breaking fifth successful 200-run chase in the format.
However, West Indies kept their nerve, crucially having Hendricks caught by captain Rovman Powell at long on in the 19th over. The Windies still have not lost a T20I series in South Africa, with two wins and a draw.
Powell saves 5-year-old ball-boy from injury by avoiding boundary collision during second South Africa T20I
West Indies captain Rovman Powell got injured while trying to save a 5-year-old ball boy at the edge of the boundary area during the second T20 International against South Africa on Sunday, March 26.
Powell, while chasing a ball towards the boundary, avoided a potentially catastrophic collision and chose to get hurt himself.
The incident occurred in the third over of the South Africa chase when Quinton de Kock hit the ball towards the long off boundary.
Powell gave chase and was inside the dive length to pull the ball back into the field before it touched the boundary. The West Indies captain, however, saw a five-year-old ball boy trying to get to the edge of line and catch the ball and decided to abort the chase in the last minute.
The West Indies captain then jumped over the boy and the boundary line and crashed into the LED boards, before toppling over.
Visibly shaken from the incident, Powell had to be treated at the side-line and took a decent amount of time to get back into the field.
As for the game, South Africa won by six wickets after pulling off a record chase. The West Indies posted 258-5 off their 20 overs and the South Africans needed only 18.5 overs to reach 259-4.
The third T20I takes place at Wanderers in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
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