New Zealand beat India by 47 runs in the first match of the ICC World T20 match at Nagpur. It was a low scoring match. India did bowl well to restrict the New Zealand team to 126 but New Zealand came back well to bowl out India for 79. There were several turning points which changed the course of the game. Here we look at the five turning points of India versus New Zealand match.
Early wickets putting pressure on New Zealand
New Zealand won the toss and chooses to bat. Martin Guptill began the innings with a six and the next ball he was dismissed by Ashwin. Collin Munro hit a six but was dismissed by Ashish Nehra while playing a big stroke. At the end of six over’s New Zealand was 33 for 2. New Zealand batsmen were trying to make use of the first six overs but lost 2 early wickets which put pressure on the New Zealand batsmen.
Kane Willamson struggling for runs
New Zealand captain Kane Willamson was finding difficult to time the ball. When 2 wickets fell at the score of 13, he was struggling against Ashwin. Corey Anderson was doing the bulk of scoring as Kane Willamson was also struggling against Jasprit Bumrah but played an excellent stroke for a boundary. In the 7th over MS Dhoni brought in Raina. Kane Willamson tried to come down the track to Raina. Kane Willamson was dismissed for 8 off 16 balls and left the team struggling at 35 for 3.
Suresh Raina brilliant fielding to dismiss Taylor
Suresh Raina bowled an exceptional spell giving away only 15 runs and picking 1 wicket in his four overs. As the partnership for the fourth wicket was building up, Raina produced an excellent run out diving to the left and hitting the stump dismissing Taylor for 10. In the 11th over stage, New Zealand were 59 for 3. Taylor was backing too much and he was dismissed by an excellent fielding effort of his own bowling.
Brilliant bowling by the Indian bowlers
The Indian bowlers were outstanding to restrict the New Zealand team to 126. Nehra, Bumrah, Ashwin and Jadeja did well to restrict the runs as well as picked wickets at regular intervals. In the 16th over Bumrah bowled an exceptional over conceding only 1 run. He bowled four Yorkers and also dismissed the well settled Corey Anderson. Bumrah went for only 15 runs in his four over’s, Jadeja also turned the bowl which made it tough for the New Zealand batsmen. Expect for Pandya who only bowled 1 over went for 10 runs. The Indian bowlers especially Bumrah continued to impress with his bowling. They did not allow the New Zealand batsmen to score runs easily as they put consistent pressure on them.
Soft dismissals by all Indian batsmen
The Indian batting got off to a poor start losing an early wicket of Dhawan in the first over. Rohit Sharma was dismissed playing a rash stroke dancing down the wicket of the bowling Santer. Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Pandya, Jadeja all played poor strokes which led to their dismissals. India was struggling at 49 for 7 which made their life tough chasing 127. Expect for Kohli who scored 23 runs was also dismissed playing an expansive stroke. Indian batsmen did not bat well and were guilty of playing too many shots at the start. New Zealand bowlers especially Ish Sodhi and Santer bowled line and length, not allowing the Indian batsmen to score runs on a sluggish surface.