New Zealand VS India Played at Dubai International Stadium, UAE on 31 October
New Zealand 111/2 in 14.3 (Daryl Mitchell 49, Kane Williamson 33*, Martin Guptill 20, Jasprit Bumrah 2/19)
India 110/7 (Ravindra Jadeja 26* , Hardik Pandya 23, KL Rahul 18,Rohit Sharma 14 ,Trent Boult 3/20, Ish Sodhi 2/17 , Tim Southee 1/26, Adam Milne 1/30, Mitchlell Santner (0/15)
A complete clinical performance of New Zealand has pushed tournament favorites India to the brink of T20 World Cup 2021. Losing two matches by huge margins of 10 and 8 Wickets against Pakistan and New Zealand the fate of India is now written on the wall.
With about half of Super 12 matches gone India stands at 5th of the six teams of the group even below Namibia. Yesterday at Dubai International stadium they bowled and batted poorly against New Zealand and lost to a far better team in all departments. Batting first they could neither play pace nor the spin as they posted a sorry looking 110/7 in allotted overs. New Zealand cruised past the target scoring 11/2 in 14.3 Overs. India may win rest of the matches .But their fate would hang on what happens in the test of the matches. Pakistan, New Zealand and Afghanistan are in far better position now.
It was a huge achievement for the black caps. They now have beaten India in all three major tournaments in the recent past. They beat India in the semi final of ICC ODI world cup 2019, final of the test Championship in 2021 and now in T20 World Cup. India can only blame them for a below par performance. They got all the favor of ICC. Played only their second match of the tournament with good rest, stayed at Dubai ,practiced on the same ground unlike other teams. If they look back some one may ask genuine question. Has India played too much cricket off late?
New Zealand had a definite plan going. They picked the right team . Adding Adam Milne to the pace battery dropping regular Wicket keeper Sneifert was a smart decision. Playing two Spinners Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner Williamson strangled the land of spin with spinners. The pacers taking the pace off dried out strokes of the free stroking Indian top order. The two spinner bowling 8 overs gave away only 35 runs for 2 wickets. These made huge difference as India could master only 110/7 in 20 overs. Apart from Ravindra Jadeja 26 and Hardik Pandya 23 other failed to justify their reputations with the bat. Trent Boult (3/20 ) and Ish Sodhi 2/17 were the tormentors . But all the Kiwi bowlers stuck to their task.
111 is not a target to defend against a quality batting unit of New Zealand. The Williams army is too cool not to exploit the situation clinically. Guptill (20) and Michell (49) gave a solid start and then Williamson (33*) himself finished the task with precision. Black Caps buried India with 33 balls to spare.
Pakistan with 6 points from three matches is sitting pretty at the top. Afghanistan has 4 point from 3 . New Zealand having played already against Pakistan and India has 2. Theoretically India is still alive but on life support at ICU. They have to win and win really big against Afghanistan, Namibia and Scotland . Then they have to wait for incidents of other matches. Very compound equalities.
Many questions would be asked if India exit . It is the most likely conclusion now ? Some of the questions are –Is India missing Shikhar Dhawan, Yujavendra Chahal and Ravichandra Ashwin? Off course those three are no mean operators. . An element of luck is missing. Opposition has craftily worked them out.
BDST: 0023 HRS, NOV 01, 2021
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