New Zealand stunned India by eight wickets in the Super 12s of the ongoing T20 World Cup on Sunday in Dubai, putting the favourites on the brink of elimination.
It was India’s second consecutive defeat. They lost their first match to Pakistan by 10 wickets. So this match had come as a chance for them to bounce back and justify the claim that they are the favourites to win the title this year. But the Men in Blue failed to prove it.
All the players of the Indian team have played IPL right before the World Cup and have adapted to the condition well. But they did not play as a unit in the lead up to the World Cup, and their problems have continued in the tournament.
New Zealand won the toss and sent India in to bat first. India failed to post a challenging total as they were restricted to 110 for seven in 20 overs. In reply, New Zealand chased down the target of 111 in 14.3 overs.
Martin Guptill fell early scoring 20 off 17 balls. In the second wicket stand, Daryl Mitchell and Kane Williamson added 72 runs to take the game away from India. Mitchell fell for 49 with 15 runs still to get. There were no more hiccups for the Kiwis.
Earlier, Trent Boult bagged three wickets conceding 20 runs while Ish Sodhi scalped two conceding 17 runs in four overs to wrap up India for 110.
In the powerplay, India managed to only score 35 runs for two wickets. They lost the first wicket when they were at 11. Ishan Kishan was the first batter to get dismissed, and he was haunted by Trent Boult off the fifth ball of the third over.
Rohit Sharma was so close to getting dismissed off the very next ball, but Adam Milne missed a catch.
Off the fifth ball of the sixth over, Tim Southee removed Lokesh Rahul for 18 off 16 balls. Daryl Mitchell picked up a tough catch at the boundary.
In between 7 to 15 overs, India managed to score only 38 runs. In the last five overs, they got only 37.
After losing the openers early, the onus was on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to guide the team to a big total, but they failed to do so. Virat posted 9 off 17 balls while Rohit added 14 off 14 balls.
Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, and Ravindra Jadeja scored 12, 23 and 26 respectively at the late order. They saved India from the embarrassment of being unable to post a three-figure score..
In Group 2 of the Super 12s, Pakistan played three matches and won all of them while Afghanistan also played three matches and won two of them.
Pakistan are leading Group 2 in Super 12s with three wins in as many matches. Afghanistan are right behind them with two wins in three matches. New Zealand and Namibia are placed at number three and four on the points table. India and Scotland are placed at number five and six with two defeats in two matches each.
Source: United News of Bangladesh