Internet Desk: Mahendra Singh Dhoni blamed his batsmen for their shock 47-run loss to New Zealand in the opening World Twenty20 group match in Nagpur on Tuesday. India were bundled out for just 79 runs in 18.1 overs, chasing a modest total of 126 runs. It was their lowest ever T20 score on home soil.
“I thought we restricted them to a good total (but) the batting let us down, the shot selection kept putting pressure on the batsmen coming in and there was no partnership in the middle,” said Dhoni.
New Zealand’s slow bowlers stunned the home crowd in Nagpur, with left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner leading the show with a four-wicket haul in a miserly spell.
“They bowled well, exploited the conditions, but we lacked adaptability, we could have applied ourselves a bit more,” Dhoni said.
Santner, whose figures of 4-11 were the best for a New Zealander in T20 cricket, was well supported by Indian-born leg-spinner Ish Sodhi and off-spinner Nathan McCullum. The Kiwi spinners shared 9 wickets between them.
A delighted New Zealand captain Kane Williamson credited his bowlers, for the fightback.
“But the way the boys bowled was simply outstanding. They get a win to start off a competition against such a tough side like India,” he said.
New Zealand has now won five of their six T20 internationals against India, while the other match was rained off.
India was never in the chase losing wickets at regular intervals. Kohli offered some resistance scoring 23 runs off 27-ball, along with Dhoni who scored a valiant 30 .