New Zealand’s spinner Mitchell Santner had a great day in office during the semi-final of the World Cup 2019 against India as he gave just 34 runs in 10 overs that he bowled. The left-arm spinner made the Indian batsmen dance to his tunes and in his first six overs, he had just given seven runs.
Also Read: Henry Nicholls doubtful for World Cup final
He got two wickets in his 10 overs but his spell proved to be the turning point in the middle overs and Indian batsmen couldn’t rotate the strike against him. The fans were looking forward to seeing MS Dhoni vs Santner anxiously, both of whom are a part of Chennai Super Kings.
Unarguably, Santner won the competition. While replying to a question regarding why he didn’t dismiss Dhoni, Santner replied that he feared that Dhoni might drop him from the team.
“I thought I wouldn’t get Dhoni out the other day because he might drop me from
Chennai. So I thought that might be the right thing to do,” he said.
It is a well-known fact that Dhoni’s strike-rate has not been the best against spinners and New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson made Santner bowl when Dhoni was out on in the middle, that worked in the favour of the Kiwis.’
Also Read: Will MS Dhoni play IPL after retiring from international cricket?
Earlier in the match, Matt Henry had provided a dream start to the team by dismissing KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma. Trent Boult also got a crucial wicket of Virat Kohli, that saw Balck caps getting an early advantage.
In the end, Dhoni had his chance to finish off the game but a direct hit from Martin Guptill to run-out Dhoni meant all the chances to make it to the finals were quashed. New Zealand will play the World Cup final for the second consecutive time when they face England at Lord’s Cricket Ground tomorrow.
Ahead of the match, they suffered a blow as Henry Nicholls is in doubt for the match. Should he be ruled out, Coli Munro will take his place. However, chances of him missing the final are less and he is expected to be fit before the final. England are also unlikely to change their winning combination.