Virat Kohli-led Team India faced yet another defeat in the ongoing T20 World Cup and this time against New Zealand. After having restricted India within 110 on the board, the Kiwis reached the target within 15 overs.
Put in to bat first, India had a poor start where both Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul got out within the powerplay. And, their middle-order too failed miserably. None of the players – be it, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli or Rishabh Pant could step up in the crucial stage.
Not the result we wanted, but we will look to bounce back in the matches ahead. #TeamIndia #T20WorldCup #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/A61JjoITe1
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 31, 2021
Trent Boult picked up 3 for 20 whereas Ish Sodhi claimed 2 for 17. For India, Ravindra Jadeja top-scored with 26 off 19.
While chasing, New Zealand had a steady start where both the openers managed to add 24 runs. However, Daryl Mitchell scored 49 and Kane Williamson scored 33 and sealed the deal for the team. For India, Jasprit Bumrah claimed 2 for 19 in his 4 overs spell.
After the win, Kane Williamson, New Zealand captain said: “There’s always planning going into game, but this was a great performance against a side that puts up a fight. The surface wasn’t easy to find rhythm on, and the way the openers came out really set things up for the chase. It’s just about adapting to the conditions as well as we could. The way the spinners kept applying pressure was commendable and it was a complete performance.
“We play against strong teams all the time, and there are match-winners in every side, and we commit to our brand of cricket and today was a good example of that. Ish is an outstanding white-ball bowler, and he’s very experienced in playing T20 cricket, having played in different leagues all over the world, and we’re looking forward to the rest of the games in the league stages,” he added.
Virat Kohli, the India captain said: “I thought we were brutal up front. We weren’t brave enough when we entered the field, but NZ sustained that pressure. Every time we took a chance, we lost a wicket. It’s most often a result of hesitation of whether you should go for a shot or not. When you play for India, there are loads of expectations. We are watched, people come to the stadium and everyone who plays for India needs to embrace that and cope with it. We haven’t done that in these two games, and that’s why we haven’t won. We have to be optimistic and positive and take calculated risks. We have to disconnect from the pressure and continue with our process, and play a positive brand of cricket. There’s a lot of cricket to play in the tournament.”
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Ish Sodhi, who won the Player of the Match award, said: “I am usually big on pre-match prep, with this bubble life we haven’t been able to see the ground until the day we come to the ground. The wicket here was one we had to adapt to pretty quickly. It was very different to what we played in Sharjah. The boundary sizes were very different. A big part of our game is using the spin bowlers in the middle. It was set up by the powerplay bowlers. Tim Southee getting that wicket late in the powerplay was massive for us and allowed us to do our job through the middle. We had a tough loss against Pakistan, it was hard not to think this is a really big game. Coming into the game we wanted to play as good a game we possibly could. To play the way we did tonight is one to definitely celebrate.”
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