To describe it as a shock would do a disservice to New Zealand, who had won their four previous T20 internationals against India, but the manner of their victory was certainly stunning, a reminder of this format’s capacity to produce the unexpected. The capacity crowd of 45,000 were streaming for the exits long before Adam Milne clean-bowled Ashish Nehra to complete the humiliation.
It was the lowest target India had failed to chase down in a 20-over game, and their second lowest total in the format. Between them, New Zealand’s three spinners – Nathan McCullum, Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi – took nine wickets between them, extracting prodigious turn from the surface as India’s batsmen succumbed to a succession of leading edges and stumpings. Santner’s figures of four for 11 earned him the man-of-the-match award.
Dhoni’s 30 offered the only real resistance, but after a shocking start and a long rebuild process, the required rate disappeared upwards. “It was a low-scoring wicket, but the batting let us down,” the Indian captain said. “They bowled well and exploited the conditions, but it wasn’t the deliveries that got us out, it was the shot selection.”
New Zealand also started poorly from the moment Martin Guptill hit the first ball of the match for six, before being dismissed from the second. Corey Anderson’s patient 34 ultimately proved decisive. For India, the recriminations will begin immediately. With their net run rate in a parlous state, they now have a mountain to climb to qualify for the semi-finals.
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