Match report:
That has set up the tournament beautifully, especially if there are more tracks like this. I know we’re meant to want to see edges for six and ilk, but there’s plenty to be said for those with a bit more in them for the bowlers. And we’re in India, the ball should turn.
Anyway, thanks all for your company - ta-ra.
Well played Kane Williamson. Picked the right team, picked correctly at the toss - perhaps, probably - said the right things between innings and rotated his bowlers superbly.
India, on the other hand, are in trouble - the net run rate differential means that to qualify from here they might need some big wins
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NEW ZEALAND DESTROY INDIA BY 47 RUNS!
What a performance! What a game!
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IT'S A DEVASTATION! WICKET! Nehra b Milne 0 (India 79 all out)
A straight one.
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18th over: India 79-9 (Nehra 0, Bumrah 0) The crowd have seen enough.
WICKET! Dhoni c McCullum b Santner 30 (India 79-9)
Dhoni has to go and he goes, whacking over the top to long-on, where McCullum flings himself forwards to hold onto a blinder, low down. Well10
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18th over: India 79-8 (Dhoni 30, Nehra 0) Santner thinks Dhoni will come down to him, drops short, and is swiped for four down to square-leg. A dot follows, and then Dhoni turns down a single - Nehra usuall bats at number 11, which tells you all you need to know about Bumrah’s batting.
17th over: India 75-8 (Dhoni 26, Nehra 0) Sodhi is bowling beautifully here and Nehra is utterly flummoxed by the googly he’s sent first up. The only runs added are wides are my days what a ridiculous game, what a brilliant performance this is. India need 52 from 18 balls.
WICKET! Ashwin st Ronchi b Sodhi 10 (India 73-8)
Oh this is a lovely delivery! Ashwin is beaten in the flight - he’s drawn forward, the ball dips, spins past his bat, and the bails are done. This is over.
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17th over: India 66-7 (Dhoni 26, Ashwin 10) Hello MS! He comes down the track and verily, veritably tumps Sodhi back over his head for six! But the next ball is a little wider, and all he can muster is a single.
16th over: India 66-7 (Dhoni 19, Ashwin 10) For us to get the denouement we deserve, India actually need to do something. Dhoni comes down the track to Anderson, swings and misses, then nabs a single - but India need boundaries now. They can’t find them. Has anyone ever seen them so becalmed? This isn’t even exciting! This is a kicking! India need 61 to win from 24 balls.
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15th over: India 61-7 (Dhoni 16, Ashwin 8) New Zealand’s bowling has been outstanding - very little short, wide or both. it’s surprising that India haven’t manipulated the ball better, but still, what an effort this is. The rate is “climbing vertically up”, apparently; is that tautology? It seems that way, yet one can climb down. Ashwin take s a single to midwicket, then Dhoni drives and they paste through for two so that Dhoni retains strike. But he can only add one more single, and this is running away from India, except Dhoni always knows. What does he know now? India need 66 from 30 balls.
14th over: India 53-7 (Dhoni 11, Ashwin 5) The devilish Santner, he of the golden left arm returnsand cedes just four balls. Incredibly, the rate is now getting on top - but where there is Dhoni, there is hope. India require 70 from 34 balls.
13th over: India 53-7 (Dhoni 11, Ashwin 5) India have never scored fewer or less - which is it? - after 10 overs of a T20 international than they have today. Milne is on, and Ashwin and Dhoni are circumspect - not a sentence anyone ever supposed to type. This is going to be quite a finish.
12th over: India 45-7 (Dhoni 7, Ashwin 1) It’s gone quiet again...
“Just promise you will never curse England by writing anything like that ....” emails Steve B, “that” being “India are going to win, and win easily.”
I’ll level with you: I wanted New Zealand to pin the OBO up on the wall of their dressing room to furnish us with an exciting game. You’re welcome.
11th over: India 45-7 (Dhoni 7, Ashwin 1) I’m clean out of wells, but New Zealand are absolutely cruising.
WICKET! Jadeja c & b Sodhi 0 (India 42-7)
THIS IS INCREDIBLE! Jadeja prods at one and Sodhi pursues it in follow-through, accelerating off the square to his left and sliding into a diving catch that’s very tricky for a tall bloke.
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10th over: India 42-6 (Dhoni 5, Jadeja 0) Well well well well well well well.
WICKET! Pandya lbw b Santner 1 (India 42-6)
They’re favourites now! Santner extracts a little extra bounce, Pandya misses it, and Richard Illingworth - or Ill’worth, to give him his full name - raises the finger. Pandya lingers, unable to believe it, but it looked pretty straight to me. Santner has 3-3!
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9th over: India 41-5 (Dhoni 3, Pandya 0) This is a really good over from Sodhi, whose height allows him bounce and whose wrist facilitates turn. Two runs and a wicket off his first over - “he’d’ve took it”, as Ryan Giggs would say.
WICKET! Kohli c Ronchi b Sodhi 23 (India 39-5)
NO THEY HAVE NOT! Sodhi tries a Warne first ball - he rips one as hard as he can, Kohli presses forward and flourishes a drive as the ball shoots away, feathering a catch behind. Well well well well well.
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8th over: India 39-4 (Kohli 23, Dhoni 3) A wide and single each from Elliott’s first tow balls, and then Kohli turns to long-on and they scamper two on Guptill’s misfield. Kohli then drives to long-off and McCullum races around the rope and flashes in a throw to keep India to one. Things have quietened down a little.
“Prediction: India 126-X; NZ 126-7.” emails Peter Galanos. “According to my super-algorithm after 4 overs (3 wickets down)..!”
I’m afraid we’ll need more detail here. And proof.
7th over: India 33-4 (Kohli 19, Dhoni 2) Milne on, and he oversteps immediately - Kohli is caught off the free hit, Milne gets behind the stumps, and can’t quite field the throw, else he’d have run out Dhoni who’d set off for the other end. At what point do New Zealand become favourites?
6th over: India 29-4 (Kohli 17, Dhoni 1) So good have India’s top order been that the rest of the chaps have barely had any work to do; they may well have today. Three from the over.
5th over: India 26-4 (Kohli 15, Dhoni 0) So, this is the partnership and these are the sets of swingers.
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WICKET! Yuvraj c & b McCullum 4 (India 26-4)
Well well well well.
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5th over: India 26-3 (Kohli 15, Yuvraj 4) India’s “grandfather shirt”-style jersey is not at all pleasant, and nor is the McCullum delivery that slides down leg-side and yields four byes. But, next ball, Yuvraj makes room and just after the pitch drills back to the bowler ... there’s an appeal ... and some rocking and rolling
4th over: India 21-3 (Kohli 14, Yuvraj 0) Somehow, New Zealand appear to have read the pitch perfectly and misread it - they picked the right team but batted entirely inappropriately. Anyway, Anderson in again and Kohli waits for one, snapping his wrists at a wide one and sending it whizzing to the fence at third man. And there’s another, walking down the track, presenting the full face and snapping the wrist to powerguide four more past mid-on. He is a ridiculous human being.
3rd over: India 12-3 (Kohli 5, Yuvraj 0) Well well well.
WICKET! Raina c Guptill b Santner 1 (India 12-3)
An arm ball sticks in the wicket, Raina doesn’t quite know what to do, fends it off around the corner and Guptill plucks it out of the air with easy alacrity.
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WICKET! Sharma st Ronchi b Santner 5 (India 10-2)
Well well. Sharma misses this so comprehensively that Ronchi has time to fumble, adjust himself and wait for Godot, tomorrow and the sun before taking the bails off.
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3rd over: India 10-1 (Sharma 5, Dhawan 4) Santner replaces McCullum and his first delivery is right there, flighted, pitched up and straight.
2nd over: India 10-1 (Sharma 5, Dhawan 4) India have only played four T20 games against New Zealand; that’s really so. And they’ve lost them all, too. Anderson opens from the other end and finds some swing, but it’s nothing these two chaps haven’t seen before. They gently add four singles in precisely the manner makes it hard to foresee a contest here.
1st over: India 6-1 (Sharma 3, Kohli 1) Well.
WICKET! Dhawan lbw b McCullum 1 (India 5-1)
Just like Guptill, Dhawan goes down on one knee looking to sweep, just like Guptill, Dhawan misses, just like Guptill, Dhawan is hit on the pad, and just like Guptill, Dhawan is given out in the first over!
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1st over: India 5-0 (Sharma 3, Dhawan 2) McCullum’s off-breaks to begin, and Sharma chips his first delivery to wide midwicket. For one brief, shining moment, Guptill thinks he’s in the game, but instead they run one. Then, off the third ball, Dhawan gets off the mark with a single after which Sharma slams three to cow corner.
New Zealand huddle. Modern life, I don’t know.
Right, it’s goodbye to Osterley and hello to Nagpur. Is the stress on the first or second syllable? NAGpur or NagPUR?
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Stuart Broad, who has a lovingly-tapered beard, thinks that New Zealand are still in this; Jimmy Anderson thinks that they didn’t show enough finesse with the bat.
Not a whole lot to say about that. New Zealand never got to grips with the attack or the track and accordingly scored nowhere near enough runs. India are going to win, and win easily.
India need 127 to win.
20th over: New Zealand 126-7 (Ronchi 21, McCullum 0) Ronchi edges four then skips down and flicks a full-toss away for six over cow corner. The final ball yields two more, and India will be all over this - New Zealand have never made them chase fewer.
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WICKET! Elliott run out 9 (New Zealand 114-7)
Ronchi swipes a full toss to Dhawan at long on and his return throw is nails, making it easy for Nehra to take off the bails.
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20th over: New Zealand 113-6 (Elliott 8, Ronchi 9) The more of this innings you see the more batting first looks an odd choice. If you don’t have to take risks in T20 you’re almost there, and India won’t have to take risks. Surely Kane Williamson could see a slow pitch, expect a low-scoring game, and insert India?
19th over: New Zealand 111-6 (Elliott 8, Ronchi 7) Jadeja foxes Elliott with his first ball as he backs away, Dhoni has the bails off, and we go upstairs. The question is whether the back foot is off the ground ... it hovers ... it goes down ... and that’s not out. Next delivery, a single to cover, and then Ronchi lifts over cover for four. Surely New Zealand will go for these last six balls?
18th over: New Zealand 103-6 (Elliott 6, Ronchi 1) Bumrah diddles Elliott with a slower one, but then he paddles a yorker down the the point fence and they run two. It’s an interesting action this, slingy and with a very straight arm - these batters are really struggling to pick it up.
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17th over: New Zealand 98-6 (Elliott 2, Ronchi 0) Of course, the thing about T20 is that each side has an absurd amount of firepower. Ronchi is going to have to come off.
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WICKET! Santner c Dhoni b Jadeja 18 (New Zealand 98-6)
Santner swipes across the line, it’s not short enough, he skies it, and Dhoni snaffles the snaffle very easily indeed.
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17th over: New Zealand 98-5 (Santner 18, Elliott 2) Jadeja returns, and after a single to Elliott, Santner cross-bats him to square-leg, rolling his wrists over the top. Sharma fumbles on the fence so they think about three - it’s a long boundary - but settle for two. Jadeja then returns with a wide, after which Santner clouts him back over his head for a one-bounce four.
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16th over: New Zealand 90-5 (Santner 12, Elliott 1) It’s very hard to see a way for New Zealand. Do they try and get to 120/130, or try whacking everything to see what happens?
WICKET! Anderson b Bumrah 34 (New Zealand 89-5)
Another yorker and this time Anderson misses altogether, trying an unsuitable scoop - but Bumrah does not! What a find he looks!
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16th over: New Zealand 89-4 (Anderson 34, Santner 12) Dhoni brings Bumrah back into the attack, 0-8 off his first two overs, and he cramps anderson with a pacey yorker, before...!
15th over: New Zealand 88-4 (Anderson 34, Santner 11) The way to score on this track appears to be knocking it around and then picking off the bad ball - it’s not at all easy to force the issue by just cracking through the line. There have been only five fours and two sixes in the innings, the balance slightly redressed when Santner hoys Pandya over square-leg. And India then miss another run out opportunity! Anderson bumps one into the front calf, Santner calls him through, and Pandya can’t quite get there in time, shying at the non-striker’s by which times ground has been made. That was a much better over from New Zealand, scoring off every ball but one.
14th over: New Zealand 78-4 (Anderson 33, Santner 3) At what point do New Zealand throw arms at spheres? Not yet, it would seem, the over yielding just three singles; Raina finishes his overs with just 16 runs conceded. Superb stuff.
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13th over: New Zealand 75-4 (Anderson 32, Santner 1) New Zealand are gifted a welcome four byes from Jadeja’s first ball, then a leg-bye then a wide, then two wides. The last of those cracks Dhoni on the thumb and he’s down for quite some time - good luck explaining that one, Ravindra. A dot is then followed by another extra, this time a leg-bye, then a dot, then a wide, then a wide, then two to fine-leg. What a curious over that was - 12 runs from it but only two off the bat, while Dhoni still looks in some pain.
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12th over: New Zealand 63-4 (Anderson 30, Santner 1) New Zealand send Santner up the order to thwack and Anderson is left playing the anchor. It’s very hard to see India not having this game sorted in about 16 overs.
WICKET! Taylor run out 10 (New Zealand 61-4)
That is fantastic work from Suresh Raina! The dive, swoop and chuck were all perfect and New Zealand are tottering.
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12th over: New Zealand 61-3 (Anderson 29, Taylor 10) Taylor tries to force Raina down the ground, he dives, collects brilliantly, and half-arms a brilliant tumbling chuck into the stumps. The umpires go upstairs...
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11th over: New Zealand 59-3 (Anderson 28, Taylor 9) A crucial phase of the game begins - Jadeja comes on, and he’ll be bowling four of the remaining ten overs. He starts well too, firing them in, while Craig Cumming reckons New Zealand will need to decide what constitutes a good score. I wonder, though, if this is true - seems to me that batsmen just try and score as many as they can off every ball. In the meantime, Anderson lumbers down the pitch, making room, and edging along the ground and past his stumps. That was not far away, and another over ticks by with just four runs added.
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10th over: New Zealand 55-3 (Anderson 26, Taylor 7) Ashwin returns to bowl out and after a single to Anderson, Taylor has a look then decides he can pick him, waiting for the turn across him and glancing four delectable runs down to third man.
9th over: New Zealand 49-3 (Anderson 25, Taylor 2) Anderson is set now, and he’ll be wondering what to do. Does he wade in and hope to stay in so that New Zealand get towards a decent total, or does he try not to get out?
“Sorry Daniel,” retorts Steve, “but what we need most of all is a fair contest. That LBW was at least three inches over the top, if it had been three inches wide of the stumps would that have been acceptable?”
Umpires make mistakes but that doesn’t mean it’s not fair. We’ve decided that human error is part of the game, and we also know it’s hard to judge things - not just for us but sometimes for computers. I’m sure lots of people disagree with me, but I find it impossible to get exercised by errors by officials.
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8th over: New Zealand 42-3 (Anderson 19, Taylor 1) Anderson clatters a slower one straight down the ground and to the fence but the rest of the over is tidy enough - New Zealand are in a situation here.
7th over: New Zealand 35-3 (Anderson 13, Taylor 0) This update is sponsored by techincal difficulties.
WICKET! Williamson st Dhoni b Raina 8 (New Zealand 35-3)
Raina sees Williamson coming, fires it in, and Dhoni does brilliantly to adjust, gather and chwhip off the bails.
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7th over: New Zealand 35-2 (Williamson 8, Anderson 13) Raina comes on to fiddle through an over or two while the scoring is becalmed - New Zealand have never scored fewer power play runs against India.
6th over: New Zealand 32-2 (Williamson 6, Anderson 12)
Bumrah into the attack - oh please let this be his dressing room nickname.
Williamson misses with the ramp shot he’s recently
5th over: New Zealand 32-2 (Williamson 6, Anderson 12) Anderson comes down the track and as Ashwin turns it towards his pads, he does very well to adjust, lofting over midwicket for a four that’s both skilful and spawn - the ball was in the air a long while. Then they add a single and Williamson hits and runs - if Rohit hits he’s gone, but he misses - and Anderson swipes the final delivery to long leg for four.
4th over: New Zealand 22-2 (Williamson 5, Anderson 3) New Zealand struggle to get it off the square, but then Williamson unfurls a thunking square-drive to greet Nehra’s slower ball which whizzes between point and extra-cover.
3rd over: New Zealand 17-2 (Williamson 1, Anderson 2)
Ashwin rattles through another over conceding just three singles.
“If the umpires are going to get the basic decisions wrong then this tournament will be a disappointment,” says Steve in Malta.
I’m not sure about that. Obviously it’s better that decisions are right not wrong, but I definitely didn’t fall in love with cricket because the umpires are good. It’ll be good if the bowling and batting are good and the games at the end are close.
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2nd over: New Zealand 14-2 (Williamson 0, Anderson 0) They add a leg-bye to the total, Williamson gets to face a ball, and that’s over. Great start for India.
WICKET! Munro c Pandya b Nehra 7 (New Zealand 13-2)
Munro goes again - of course he does - looking to hit over mid-off. But he doesn’t get all of it and lobs and easy catch.
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2nd over: New Zealand 13-1 (Williamson 0, Munro 7) In comes Ashish Nehra, all 36 years of him, and Munro isn’t hanging around, looking to mow him around the corner. He misses, then again when he plants his feet and swings - eyeballs are exchanged, which sounds more gorier than it was.
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1st over: New Zealand 13-1 (Williamson 0, Munro 7)
Forewarned by Guptill’s travail, Munro allows himself a sighter before slamming a reverse-sweep over square-leg. Oh, and it seems Umpire Dharmasena got that lb wrong - the ball was bouncing over the top. Phew.
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WICKET! Guptill lbw b Ashwin 6 (New Zealand 6-1)
Here we go! Here we are! Guptill glides Ashwin’s first deliver straight back over his head for a velvety six, then goes down on one knee to his second, misses, and he’s lbw.
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Guptill to face, Ashwin to open...
If New Zealand are going to win, this top two will probably have to come off, arguably, you’d think. Get yer hottakes here!
How did cricket cope in the dark days before national anthem renditions? All those wasted decades.
We’re remembering the great Martin Crowe. Here’s his 81* against West Indies the 1992 World Cup.
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“The crowd as you’d expect are in attendance, their mobile phones are on...”
Talking of big trouble: what the most you ever got into? To begin, a tale from my own anthology: I once played Knockdown Ginger in my local area, but because it was the Jewish Sabbath, didn’t ring the bell (I was a deeply god-fearing teenager, you see) but banged on the window instead. Which shattered in my hands. Inevitably, my parents found out, and dictionaries were thrown.
I guess New Zealand are gambling that it’s going to turn. If it doesn’t, and/or if there’s dew, they’re going to be in big trouble.
James Anderson and Stuart Broad are in the studio wearing matching black shirts. It’s very sweet.
They’re also both very good - Broad explains the Guptill (or Nuptial according to my spellcheck) likes to hit straight and flat, so you want your best fielder at mid-off. “Would a captain allow that if you asked?” asked Ian Ward. “A good captain would’ve thought of it already”, says Anderson.
Teams, then
India: RG Sharma, S Dhawan, V Kohli, MS Dhoni*†, SK Raina, Yuvraj Singh, HH Pandya, RA Jadeja, R Ashwin, JJ Bumrah, A Nehra
New Zealand: MJ Guptill, KS Williamson*, C Munro, LRPL Taylor, CJ Anderson, GD Elliott, MJ Santner, L Ronchi†, NL McCullum, AF Milne, IS Sodhi
It seems that New Zealand have omitted Southee, Boult, Nicholls and McClenaghan in order to include three spinners. If so, the spirit of Baz lives on.
New Zealand win the toss and will bat
But that is not the headline news!
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Preamble
Of all the sporting events since the dawn of time, perhaps none has been harder to predict that this, er, “WT20”. No team game is as easily turned by a single intervention, and no competition has as many teams with as many matchwinners. It’s basically a skilful version of Yahtzee, or something.
That said, India are favourites and rightly so. Their batting is murderous, their seam attack refreshed and their spinners canny. And, just as importantly, they know what to do: their players play this format most often, under greatest pressure, and though their knowledge of the conditions is not as great an advantage as once, their aptitude for them is still significant.
New Zealand, though, are more than just a live dog. The have pace, power, nous and Kane, plus plenty of moxey. This is going to be very good indeed.
“Play” at 2pm GMT
