New Zealand stifled favourites India for only 110/7 in their 20 overs in their Super 12s clash of the ICC T20 World Cup on Sunday in Dubai.
India lost their first match to Pakistan by 10 wickets. So this match came as a chance for them to bounce back and justify the claim that they are the favourites to win the title this year.
New Zealand won the toss and sent India in to bat first. India failed to post a challenging total on the board as the New Zealand bowlers were disciplined well.
Trent Boult bagged three wickets conceding 20 runs while Ish Sodhi scalped two conceding 17 runs in four overs.
In the powerplay, India managed to score only 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 have saved India from the embarrassment of being all out for less than 100 runs.
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.
A defeat in this match will shrink India’s chances of making it to the next phase of the World Cup.
Source: United News of Bangladesh