Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
GUPTILL’S GOLDEN ARM EARNS KIWIS A PLACE IN FINAL
MARTIN GUPTILL has had a disastrous tournament with the bat but provided the turning point with the ball yesterday as New Zealand reached the final.
He raced in from deep square leg and, from 35 yards with one stump to aim at, arrowed in a throw which ran out MS Dhoni by a fraction.
It was a key moment in the contest, with India needing 24 off 10 balls and Dhoni winding up for a trademark finish having hit a six off the first ball of the penultimate over.
“We all know the game is a fine line,” said Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson.
“We have all seen Dhoni finish games. So to dismiss him for a direct-hit run out was a big moment.”
Guptill has been a shadow of the player who top scored with 541 runs in 2015, managing just
167 in nine efforts this time round.
He was out for one on the first day of this rain-hit game, New Zealand returning to complete their innings yesterday morning and adding 28 from the remaining 23 balls for a seemingly modest total of 239-8.
Their opening bowlers Trent Boult and Matt Henry then gave India a shock from which they never really recovered, reducing them to 5-3 and then 24-4 after 10 overs. Kannur Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli (above) scored just one run apiece.
But Dhoni and Ravi Jadeja raised hopes of a remarkable recovery with a 116-run partnership for the seventh wicket.
Then with 32 needed from 14 balls Jadeja holed out, Williamson holding his nerve and the ball under a skier off Trent Boult.
Dhoni had raised hopes again with a maximum off the first delivery of the 49th over, but Guptill’s brilliance in the field did for him as he went for a second run.
India captain Kohli said: “The game pretty much changed in those first 40 minutes when we were batting.
“New Zealand put a great display with how to bowl with the new ball and the pressure they created was immense.
“It made the difference.”