In a nail biting finish, India beats New Zealand at ICC Worldcup ’23
By Sunil Sarpal
It was a much awaited encounter because New Zealand is hailed as a well knit solid one day side. For this encounter, both India and New Zealand came with all wins under their belt.
Let me put it in explicit manner, Pandya is injury prone even though his skills as a batsman and bowler are admirable . He is no-where near Kapil Dev who played through out his career without any injury. Pandya had a long lay- off because of his back problem and now twisted his ankle. Pandya’s body does not permit him to go over board which he often does and gets injured.
Watching Kohli bat, it looks as if he has descended from a different planet to enthrall cricket lovers. He is rock solid and mostly plays his shots along the ground to minimise the risk factor. He is always calm and composed and never unruffled by the seam movement and spin. The one time he erred as he lofted the ball to score his century and bring India victory, he got out at 95. It was left to Jadeja, the versatile player, to hit the winning boundary for India.
Both Bumrah and Siraj bowled a disciplined line and length with the new ball and never went berserk.
It was a nerve-wracking contest. From both sides, bowling, whether spin or pace, was spot on. However, it was a docile wicket and did not give any assistance to bowlers.
From New Zealand side, Ravinderan and Mitchel batted in tandem and New Zealand posted a score of 273 runs on the board.
In the second essay, Rohit Sharma hit 48 runs in his usual manner. India’s ship was steadied by Kohli with 95 runs and Jadeja with 45 runs. Shami in particular bowled with a 5-wicket haul.
It was a see-saw battle and the match could drift towards any side but for unflappable Kohli, India won the match after a scare from New Zealand.
Did not look like nail bite. Kohli and Jadeja were slowly but steadily (slightly more than required rate but without aggression of trying to finish in next few overs) crusing towards target without taking any risk till 45 overs. Then finished the game in next 3 overs with 2 overs remaining, in style. Never ever looked like NZ had any chance any time after Kohli and Jadeja played sensibly after fall of 5 wickets.
If one more wicket falls then tail to follow. But tail is always spineless. Hence it could any way.
Your comments are very relevant and well reasoned. But it’s a matter of perception. Another reader wrote:
“After this match I was left with no nails to bite during Af Pak match yesterday” 😉. Kamal Kishore.