Internet Desk: New Zealand pulled off a brilliant 47 run win today against hosts India at VCA stadium in Nagpur. India chasing 127 runs to win was bundled out for their second lowest total in T20 internationals. Left arm spinner Mitchell Santner was the pick of the Kiwi bowlers taking 4 wickets for 11 runs. Kane Williamson’s decision to field three spinners got justified as Santner, McCullum and Sodhi shared 9 wickets among themselves giving away only 44 runs.
Dhoni was the top scorer for India with 30 runs. Virat Kohli chipped in with 23 runs.
Kane Williamson too opened the bowling with a spinner. Nathan McCullum almost had Rohit Sharma top edged of the first delivery. He did give his side a breakthrough in the first over as he got Dhawan plumbed in front of the wicket.
Man of the match Mitchell Santner gave the BlackCaps a huge breakthrough getting Rohit Sharma stumped for 5 runs. The lanky left arm spinner gave another big breakthrough in the same over getting Suresh Raina caught at short mid wicket by Guptill for 1 run. India was 12/3 after 3.1 overs.
Kohli did struck a couple of boundaries off Anderson to raise hopes of a revival. Yuvraj Singh showed promise as he swept Nathan McCullum for a boundary, but the left hander soon departed off the next delivery as he gave a simple catch back to the bowler. India was struggling at 26/4 after 5 overs.
Leg spinner Ish Sodhi gave the biggest breakthrough for the Kiwis as he got danger man Kohli caught behind for only 23 runs with India in deep trouble at 39/5 after 8.1 overs. Kohli looked in great touch but could not capitalize on the start he got.
Mitchell Santner once again gave his side a breakthrough as the left arm spinner got Pandya plumbed in front of the wicket. India were looking down the barrel with the score at 42/6.
Sodhi too joined in the act as he took a brilliant catch off his own bowling to see the back of Ravindra Jadeja . India was tottering at 43/7 after 10.2 overs.
There was slight hope as Dhoni and Ashwin took the score to 57/7. They put together 29 runs.India was 61/7 after 15 overs requiring 66 runs off only 30 balls.
Just when the doctor order for India was some big hits, Sodhi got Ashwin stumped for 10 runs .Dhoni who looked patient till that time went after the attack. He too perished trying to hit Santner over long on for six, but was caught brilliantly by Nathan McCullum. India was 79/9 in 17.4 overs.
Adan Milne got through the defense of Ashish Nehra for a duck off the first ball of 18th over. India was bowled out for 79 runs , which is 5 runs short of the lowest ever total in T20 internationals .
New Zealand captain Kane Willaimson was very pleased with the effort from his boys, “Very pleased. It was a tough surface, whatever score we got I knew it would be difficult chase on this surface. That was a good hit out first up by the boys and we knew if we bowled well we would do well. It was tough to leave out Boult and Southee, they are world class, but we had to be adaptable.”
Indian captain Dhoni blamed the poor batting for the defeat,”The batting let us down, we had a few soft dismissals with poor shots. There were no partnerships in the middle and then we were down in the run rate. They bowled well, but we lacked adaptability. 126 was a decent score to chase but our batters let us down.”
Earlier a disciplined bowling from Indian bowlers restricted New Zealand for only 126/7 in the Super 10 Group 2 match at the VCA stadium in Nagpur . New Zealand never looked in control as wickets fell at regular intervals. Corey Anderson was the top scorer for the Kiwis with 34 runs off 42 balls. The Indian slow bowlers particularly strangled the New Zealand batsman as they never looked to tear apart the Indian bowling. Late strike from Luke Ronchi who hit two fours and a six in his 11 ball 21 runs took the total to 126/7.
India opened the bowling with Ashwin .What an eventful first over it was as Martin Guptill hit the off spinner for a straight six off the first ball. Ashwin struck back in his next delivery getting him plumbed in front of the wicket. Colin Munro quickly got into the act as he went on the front foot and reverse smashed the ball far over the point boundary, for the second six of the over. New Zealand was 13/1 after the first over.
New Zealand could only manage 33/2 from the first six overs, their lowest power play score against India. Raina struck in his first over after the power play getting rid of the New Zealand captain who got stumped by Dhoni for 8 runs. New Zealand was in some trouble with the score on 35/3 after 7 overs.
Corey Anderson started to open his arms as he hit Bumrah for a straight six in the next over. Anderson and Ross Taylor looked to build a partnership . New Zealand was 55/3 after the half way stage.India got a huge breakthrough as Raina ran out Taylor for 10 runs. New Zealand were 61/4 after 11.3 overs.
Bumrah who was the pick of the bowlers bowled a superb 16th over to Anderson. The youngster foxed the burly all rounder with his accurate yorkers before getting him bowled for 34 runs. New Zealand was struggling at 90/5 after 16 overs.
Mitchell Santner looked to have a go at Jadeja , hitting him straight over the top for a boundary. The all rounder got him in the next delivery as he tried to pull and got a top edge. Dhoni made no mistake. Santner scored only 18 runs. New Zealand was struggling at 98/6 after 16.4 overs.
Late strike from Luke Ronchi who scored 21 runs off 11 balls saw New Zealand post 126/7 .
Earlier Kane Williamson did not hesitate to bat first after winning the toss. India went in with a settled look with Rohit , Dhawan , Kohli , Raina , Yuvraj, Dhoni, Pandya, Jadeja, Ashwin, Nehra and Bumrah.
New Zealand surprisingly left out the pace duo of Trent Boult and Tim Southee from their playing XI. Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Colin Munro, Coey Anderson, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, M Santner , Luke Ronchi , Nathan McCullum , Adam Milne and Ish Sodhi formed the BlackCaps playing XI.
India next play arch rivals Pakistan on March 19 at the Eden Gardens .