NEW ZEALAND
upcoming World Cup.
New Zealand produced an outstanding collective bowling performance. Ferguson took 2-20 from his four overs and claimed two catches in the outfield while Tim Southee took 3-17 and Santner 2-24.
Daryl Mitchell, son of former All Blacks rugby coach and current England assistant coach John Mitchell, took a wicket on debut.
According to Krunal Pandya, it was the middle overs that proved costly.
“In the Powerplay as well as in the middle overs, we gave away plenty of runs,” Krunal said.
He maintained that the target wasn’t easy to chase.
LEAKING RUNS
“Yes, obviously I guess, when you are chasing 218 (220), it’s not that easy. Initially, we gave away (too many) runs and kept on leaking runs in the middle overs as well. So, no matter how the pitch was, the scoreboard pressure was obviously there,” the Baroda all-rounder said.
Krunal felt that India’s defeat was “a combination of both poor bowling and some great batting by the Black Caps.
“They batted really well and we bowled a few loose deliveries as well. So it was a combination of both.”
A couple of catches were dropped including one by Dhoni, when Seifert hadn’t scored much.
Asked if wind and cold conditions posed a problem while fielding, Krunal replied: “No, not that much. It was fine. In fact, it T Seifert b Khaleel 84 (43) C Munro c Shankar b Krunal
34 (20) K Williamson c Hardik b Chahal
34 (22) D Mitchell c Karthik b Hardik 8 (6) R Taylor c Khaleel b Bhuvi 23 (14) Grandhomme c sub b Hardik 3 (4) M Santner not out 7 (4) S Kuggeleijn not out 20 (7) Extras (lb 1, w 5) 6 Total (6 wickets; 20 overs) 219 FOW: 1-86, 2-134, 3-164, 4-164, 5-189, 6-191
Bowling: Bhuvi 4-0-47-1, Khaleel 4-0-48-1, K Pandya 4-0-37-1, H Pandya 4-0-51-2, Y Chahal 4-0-35-1 Y Chahal b Mitchell
K Ahmed not out
Extras (lb 3, nb 1, w 3) 7 Total (all out; 19.2 overs) 139 FOW: 1-18, 2-51, 3-64, 4-65, 5-72, 6-77, 7-129, 8-132, 9-136
Bowling: T Southee 4-0-17-3, S Kuggeleijn 2-0-34-0, L Ferguson 4-0-22-2, M Santner 4-0-24-2, D Mitchell 2.2-0-13-1, I Sodhi 3-0-26-2
was good weather to play. As far as the wind is concerned, it wasn’t difficult to catch the ball so I guess it was absolutely fine.
“Dropping catches is part and parcel of the game. One day you might t ake a bli nder l i ke ( Mohd) S i r a j a n d then another day two catches (Dhoni and Karthik) get dropped as well. It’s just that you have to learn from every game.” The next T20 is in Auckland on Friday.