Picture : Twitter / ICC
New Zealand produced a stunning bowling display to beat India by eight wickets and get their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 campaign up and running.
Both India and New Zealand had lost their opening Super 12s matches to Pakistan and came into this one knowing that defeat would leave their hopes of reaching the semi-final hanging by a thread.
Kane Williamson won the toss and put India in, but despite how well teams chasing have done in this tournament, even the most optimistic of Black Caps fans would not have expected to see them claim such a dominant success.
Trent Boult started the carnage, eventually finishing with figures of three for 20, and as Indian batters picked out the fielders on the boundary with regularity, they were only able to make 110 for seven.
That was never likely to be enough and Daryl Mitchell ensured it was the case with a quickfire 49, ably supported by his captain who finished the job off with an unbeaten 33.
India had brought in Ishan Kishan and Shardul Thakur, with the former promoted to open, but he was Boult’s first victim, clipping the ball off his toes straight down the throat of Mitchell for four.
Adam Milne put Rohit Sharma down next ball, before going for 15 off his first over, but that was a rare high point for India.
KL Rahul was dismissed by the penultimate delivery of the powerplay, hooking but again picking out Mitchell in the deep as he departed for 18 with India 35 for two.
Rohit was joined by Virat Kohli but Ish Sodhi removed them both as shots to long-on fell into the hands of the fielders. At 48 for four, India were in all sorts of trouble and while Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya consolidated, they did so at the expense of the scoring rate as India went 71 balls without a boundary.
Pant eventually fell to Milne, a wild swipe at one coming back seeing him cleaned up. And while Pandya did manage end the boundary drought, he fell for 23 as he became the latest player to find the fielder on the boundary, Martin Guptill taking his second catch of the innings.
He added another, again off Boult as Thakur went for a duck, and despite Ravindra Jadeja’s efforts late on, making an unbeaten 26, India were well short of par.
In reply, Guptill began positively in making 20 before he fell to Jasprit Bumrah, the pick of the Indian bowlers.
But the low total meant that Mitchell and Williamson could just take their time. That is not the style of the former though, and he hit four fours and three sixes before getting caught by Rahul off Bumrah with 15 still to get.
Williamson was never troubled though and saw his side home comfortably.
With this win, New Zealand helped their net run-rate as they look to put pressure on Afghanistan in the race for a semi-final spot, with the pair set to meet in each team’s final game of the Super 12.
India, meanwhile, are now relying on other results if they are to make the semi-finals, with a clash against Afghanistan next up in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
Scores in Brief :
New Zealand beat India at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai by eight wickets
India 110/7, in 20 overs (Ravindra Jadeja 26, Hardik Pandya 23; Trent Boult 3/20, Ish Sodhi 2/17)
New Zealand 111/2, in 14.3 overs (Daryl Mitchell 49, Kane Williamson 33 not out; Jasprit Bumrah 2/19, Mohammed Shami 0/11)
Player of the Match: Ish Sodhi (New Zealand)
