DUBAI: Super 12s – India suffered a shocking loss to New Zealand and may have limped out of contention for the T20 World cup. It was the most awaited vital match for both sides since a defeat could reduce the chances of qualifying for the semi-finals since both teams had lost their first match to Pakistan.
New Zealand captain won the toss and invited India to bat first. A disappointing batting performance by India saw India struggling to reach 110 for 7 wickets off their 20 overs. Trent Boult caused chaos by picking up Ishan Kishan in the 2nd over of the innings for just 4 runs. India only managed 35 runs in the power play for loss of 2 wickets. The struggle and the disappointment continued for India where in the 10th over India were at 48 runs for 4 wickets with the exit of Captain Kohli. New Zealand spinners Sodhi (2 for 17 off 4 overs) and Santner (15 runs off 4 overs) continued to weave a magical spell strangling India. Contributions by Hardik Pandya (23 runs) and Ravindra Jadeja who stood unbeaten at 26 runs allowed India to crawl to 110 off 7 wickets in 20 overs.
Chasing 110, New Zealand openers Guptill and Mitchell started confidently with Guptill racing to 20 runs in 17 balls. Bumrah picked up the wicket of Guptill in the 3rd over to give India hope. However, Daryl Mitchell and Kane Williamson played brilliantly together after being cautious at the start. By the 10th over New Zealand reached 83 runs for loss of one wicket needing only 28 runs in 60 balls. Varun Chakravarthy was the most economical with only 23 runs given away in 4 overs. However, India needed wickets to win this one and Kohli brought Bumrah to bowl the 11th over and Hardik Pandya was also introduced to the attack. Bumrah picked up Mitchell for 49 runs ( in 34 balls) in the 13th over who ended up with bowling figures of 2 for 19 runs in 4 overs.
None of the other Indian bowlers made much of an impact and Kane Williamson guided New Zealand to an impressive win in the 15th over with a contribution of 33 runs off 31 balls. New Zealand reached the target set by India by scoring 111 for loss of 2 wickets ( 14.3 overs).
It was a painful loss for India but a very convincing and dominating win for the New Zealanders. New Zealand and Afghanistan has more chances for the semifinal position than India at present. With today’s results New Zealand has the most chance to move to the semifinals along with Pakistan given the rest of their matches are with Afghanistan, Namibia and Scotland unless there are any upsets.
Afghanistan has 2 matches remaining against India and New Zealand and if they can create an upset and secure a win they may have an opportunity to step in to the semifinals. For India, they must win the rest of their matches and hope for an upset in the matches played by rest of the teams in the group.
Group 2 is now lead by Pakistan with Afghanistan in the 2nd position. New Zealand with 2 points today is now at 3rd place.
Ish Sodhi was named the player of the match for his haul of 2 wickets (key wickets of Rohit Sharma and V.Kohli) for 17 runs(RZ)
[Image credit icc-cricket.com]
