New Zealand have once again silenced the critics after their emphatic and simply remarkable win over hosts India in the opening match of the World T20 on Tuesday.
Entering the match as the underdogs, a label the Blackcaps have practically made their own nowadays, they were given little chance of beating India –the team pegged as favourites for the tournament – on a pitch seemingly suited to the Indian spin attack.
New Zealand Win Gripping World T20 Opener
Blackcaps captain Kane Williamson was criticised further after revealing the starting XI for the game which was noticeably missing Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Mitchell McClenaghan, opting instead for three specialised spin bowlers and lone pace man Adam Milne.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat, the Blackcaps innings started in all too familiar fashion with senseless slogging and poor running between the wickets and soon the men in biege found themselves struggling at 55-3 at the halfway mark, eventually ending their innings at 126-7 with Corey Anderson (34 from 42 balls) and Luke Ronchi (21 from 11 balls) the only real standouts on the scorecard.
During their innings, New Zealand toiled away slowing and patiently as they looked to salvage some sort of respectable score on a pitch that refused to be kind to the batsmen.
It looked to be a near impossible task of defending such a low score with a fairly young bowling attack against a team that is considered to be the best when coming up against spin. Yet, that is exactly what New Zealand accomplished with just under two overs to spare.
New Zealand’s spin trio of Mitchell Santner (4/11), Ish Sodhi (3/18) and Nathan McCullum (2/15), who collectively claimed 9/44 in their allotted 12 overs, outplayed the Indian batsmen at their own game.
India’s collapse was early and obvious with them falling to 43-7 in just 11 overs, the biggest breakthrough coming in the ninth over with Captain Virat Kohli being caught behind for 23 off the very first ball Sodhi bowled. Four other specialist batsmen for India were dismissed for five runs or less.
Lone seamer Adam Milne was only needed for 2.1 overs, and he picked up the final wicket to seal the win for New Zealand and maintain their unbeaten record against India in T20 matches.
India have been on the end of a fair amount of criticism following their defeat, mainly for their inability to alter their mindset to chase smaller totals on incredibly difficult pitches.
They looked to get the job done quickly and in entertaining form, dismissing the possibility of the Kiwi bowlers achieving the same success with the ball as their bowlers did previously.
This overconfidence and lack of planning for their innings added to them losing the game and causing them to crumble to a measly 79 all out, although nothing should be taken away from the excellent bowling and fielding performances put on by the Blackcaps throughout the innings.
Mitchell Santner picked up the man of the match award for his 4-11 with the young left-arm spinner perfectly exploiting the spin-friendly pitch.
India’s noticeable arrogance going into the opener will make the big slice of humble pie served to them even harder to swallow, a stark contrast to the ever modest New Zealand team brimming with confidence and well-earned bragging rights.
New Zealand cricket next face Australia on Friday, 18 March while India will meet Pakistan on Saturday, 19 March.
