NZ spin trio hand India shock defeat

gpur, March 15: New Zealand defeated India by 47 runs in a low scoring opening match of the World Twenty20 at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium here on Tuesday.

The Kiwis, who have never lost to India in the shortest version of the game, thus maintained their perfect record. Tuesday's defeat also ended a seven-match winning streak for the Indians.

Chasing a modest 127-run target on a spin-friendly track in the Super 10 Group 2 match, the Indian batsmen never really got into the groove and could only mage to crawl their way to 79 before being all out.

In-form batsman Virat Kohli (23) and India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (30) fought bravely as wickets fell at the other end, but could not rescue the team.

Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner claimed a four-wicket haul for New Zealand with superb figures of 4/11 in his four overs. This was the best figures by a spinner against India in the 20-over format.

Indian origin leg-spinner Inderbir Singh Sodhi also tormented the Indian batsmen for figures of 3/18 while than McCullum (2/15) and fast bowler Adam Milne (1/8) also bowled well.

India lost nine wickets to spinners, which equalled the T20 record.

The hosts suffered an early jolt when than McCullum trapped Shikhar Dhawan leg before in the opening over with one that pitched on middle before straightening.

Santner dealt the Indians a double blow when he sent back the in-form Rohit Sharma and then Suresh Rai in the third over. Rohit had come down the wicket, but was outfoxed by the extra bounce and decent turn as wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi pulled off an easy stumping despite an initial fumble. Rai meanwhile, offered an easy catch to midwicket.

Yuvraj Singh also perished due to a poor shot to leave the hosts in trouble at 26/4 in the fifth over. The sizeable home crowd roared in anticipation as Dhoni joined Kohli in the middle. But it was simply not India's day.

Kohli's brave effort was brought to an end by a Sodhi delivery that turned away after pitching. Kohli attempted to drive but could not time the shot properly as the ball grazed the edge of the bat on its way into the keeper's gloves.

Indian hopes of salvaging the match departed along with Kohli. Dhoni waged a lonely battle, but wickets continued to fall at the other end.

Earlier, a combition of below par batting and quality bowling saw New Zealand restricted to a low total of 126/7 in their 20 overs.

Electing to bat first after winning the toss, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson saw his decision backfire as most of the Kiwi batsmen showed poor application and could not last long on a pitch which had a fair bit of turn.

All-rounder Corey Anderson was the only batsman who maged to tackle the Indian bowling with a patient 34 off 42 deliveries.

Among the Indian bowlers, veteran pacer Ashish Nehra (1/6) continued his recent good form with another economical performance, while Jasprit Bumrah (1/15), Rai (1/15), Ravindra Jadeja (1/18) and Ravichandran Ashwin (1/32) were also among the wickets. IANS

SCOREBOARD

New Zealand

Martin Guptill lbw b Ashwin 6, Kane Williamson st Dhoni b Rai 8, Colin Munro c Pandya b Nehra 7, Corey Anderson b Bumrah 34, Ross Taylor run out 10, Mitchell Santner c Dhoni b Jadeja 18, Grant Elliott run out 9, Luke Ronchi not out 21, than McCullum not out 0

Extras (b 4, lb 3, w 6) 13, Total (for 7 wickets; 20 overs) 126

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-13, 3-35, 4-61, 5-89, 6-98, 7-114

Bowling: Ravichandran Ashwin 4-0-32-1, Ashish Nehra 3-1-20-1, Jasprit Bumrah 4-0-15-1, Suresh Rai 4-0-16-1, Ravindra Jadeja 4-0-26-1, Hardik Pandya 1-0-10-0

India : RG Sharma st †Ronchi b Santner 5, S Dhawan lbw b McCullum 1, V Kohli c †Ronchi b Sodhi 23, SK Rai c Guptill b Santner 1, Yuvraj Singh c & b McCullum 4, MS Dhoni*†     c McCullum b Santner 30, HH Pandya lbw b Santner 1, RA Jadeja c & b Sodhi 0, R Ashwin st †Ronchi b Sodhi 10, A Nehra b Milne 0 , JJ Bumrah not out 0

Extras (w 3, nb 1) 4; Total (all out; 18.1 overs) 79

Fall of wickets 1-5, 2-10 , 3-12, 4-26, 5-39, 6-42, 7-43, 8-73, 9-79, 10-79

Bowling: NL McCullum 3 0 15 2, CJ Anderson 3 0 18 0, MJ Santner 4 0 11 4 , GD Elliott 2 0 9 0, AF Milne 2.1 0 8 1, IS Sodhi 4 0 18 3