Its time to talk about a team which is famously known as "Dark Horses" in ICC tournaments. Yes, this team is New Zealand. They had some finest of the performances in ICC ODI Cricket World Cup but when its comes to T20 World Cup, they didn't got much success as their best performance came in way back in 2007 where reach the Semi-Final in South Africa.
Journey in T20 World Cup 2016
Its another ICC tournament, its another World Cup. New Zealand came into this World Cup with full confidence as they reached the final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 where they were beaten by Australia in one sided contest. They were at their very best in the group stages, lets see the journey of so called "Dark Horses" in the T20 World Cup 2016.
1st Match vs India at Nagpur
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| M Santner masterclass spin bowling was too hard to handle for Indian batsman. Image Source - Google | Image by - indianexpress |
New Zealand won all important toss and elected to bat first in the slow pitch. Martin Guptill welcomed Ashwin with a six on the very first ball of the match. But Ashwin had the last laugh. He trapped Guptill in front of wicket on the very next ball. Veteran Ashish Nehra strikes in his first over to send Munro back in the hunt. India had the perfect start. Spinners, pacers and good fielding didn't allowed New Zealand to score freely. As a result, New Zealand scored just 126 runs in their quota of 20-overs. It looked dead and in favor of Indian Team. But New Zealand spinner's had different ideas. They made the most out of the slow pitch. Shikhar Dhawan(1) trapped LBW in the first over off Nathan McCullum. Santner dounle strike in the 3rd over to send back Rohit Sharma(5) and Suresh Raina(1). Yuvraj(4) followed them and was caught and bowled by McCullum. Indian got off the poor start trailing 26/4 inside 5 overs. Ish Sodhi got the better of star batsman Virat Kohli(23) to left the lower order a mountain to climb. No Indian batsman had the answer of New Zealand’s spinners. Mitchell Santner, Man of the Match (4-0-11-4) , Nathan McCullum and Ish Sodhi shared as many as 9 wickets among them resulting India all out on 79. New Zealand got the boost that require in the big tournament, by beating host India.
2nd match vs Australia at Dharmashala
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| Mitch McClenaghan used his Mumbai Indian's experience and showed the way to bowl in death over to hand New Zealand their second win of the tournament. Image Source - Google | Image by - theguardian |
Australia faces New Zealand who had a very successful outing against a strong team, India. New Zealand won the toss and boosted by defending low total against strong batting line-up of India, opted to bat first. Martin Guptill and skipper Kane Williamson(24) gave them a good start by scoring 58 in the powerplay without loosing any wicket, leaded by Martin Guptill who scored 39(27) including 4 huge sixes. Australia strike back into the match by sending both openers in quick succession. New Zealand didn't recover from there and kept loosing wickets in regular interval. Australian bowlers kept hitting right areas and didn't allowed big hitters Munro 23(26), Ross Taylor 11(11) and C Anderson 3(6) to score runs. Grant Elliott scored crucial 27(20) to give their bowlers something to defend. New Zealand set a target of 143 runs to Australia which looked chaseble with kind of batting line-up that Australian team had.
Australia looses Shane Watson early in the chase but the Big Bash hero Khawaja kept on playing his shots and Australia scored 50 runs in first 6 overs with the only wicket of Shane Watson. Chase was set for other batsman and its Australia's game to loose. But as New Zealand are known for their never say die attitude and produces upset in big tournaments, they respond in tough way. Firstly, Mitch Santner got the better of Steve Smith, followed by run out U Khawaja(38). Santner removed Warner for just 6 runs. Australia faced mini collapse but they the target was modest, they just wanted to bat sensibly. They needed 77 runs off 60 balls. Glenn Maxwell 22(23) and Mitch Marsh 24(23) didn't took any risk in view to score fast at the end. Equation brought down to 43 off 30 balls. Its all Australia game to loose now. But Maxwell departs on the first ball of 16th over and from there on New Zealand bowlers didn't allowed them to score much boundaries. As a result of this, Australia falls apart by 8 runs. Mitch McClenaghan was awarded Man of the Match (3-0-17-3) for his ruthless death bowling. New Zealand got all important advantage to go through the Semi Final as they have beaten two big teams in as many matches.
New Zealand won the toss for the 4th time in as many matches and elected to bat first. New Zealand already qualified for the Semis and Bangladesh were out of the competition. New Zealand gave rest to Martin Guptill and tried H Nicholls at the top. But it didn't worked as Nicholls was out after scoring 7 runs off 11 balls. Bangladeshi's bowlers didn't allowed New Zealand openers to score free runs and kept the tight line. Hence, New Zealand scored just 39/1 in the powerplay. They lost their skipper Kane Williamson 42(32) off the last ball of 9th over. Taylor 28(24) and Collin Munro 35(33) somehow kept the scoreboard ticking but all credit goes to Bangladesh bowlers to kept New Zealand batsman at bay. New Zealand were 99/3 at the end off 15 overs.Rest of the batsman struggled and New Zealand finished with 145/8 on the board. Mustafizur Rahman was pick of the bowlers for Bangladesh. He took a 5-fer and finished with brillant bowling performance,4-0-22-5. Bangladesh batsman did't step up on Mustafizur performance. Both the opening batsman gone inside powerplay to put pressure on middle order. They were 30/2 after 6 overs and with the kind of form New Zealand bowlers had, Bangladesh would have to bat of to their skin to have any chance of victory. Bangladesh collapsed and with the help of Grant Elliott(3/12) and Ish Sodhi (3/21), New Zealand bowled out Bangladeshi's Tiger for just 70 runs to won the match comfortably by 75 runs. Skipper Kane Williamson awarded Man of the Match. So, New Zealand to go to Semis with high confidence by winning all league matches.
3rd Match vs Pakistan at Mohali
New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first with an aim to seal a Semi Final spot. New Zealand got off to a good start, all thanks to Veteran Martin Guptill. He smashed Pakistan bowlers all around the park. He along with skipper Kane Williamson, who scored scratchy 17(21), scored 55 runs in the powerplay. Md Irfan gave Pakistan the much needed breakthrough by taking the wicket of K Williamson. Collin Munro followed his skipper in the next over. Pakistan somehow managed to put brake on run rate but Martin Guptill 80(48) with the help of Corey Anderson 21(14) and Veteran Ross Taylor 36*(23), helped New Zealand to post 180 on the board. Sharjeel Khan 47(25) gave Pakistan a perfect start. He and S Ahmed 30(32) scored 66 runs in the powerplay to give Pakistan the much required momentum. All they just need to carry on from there but New Zealand bowlers strike back and got rid of S Ahmed and K Latif to put Pakistan under pressure. Skipper Shahid Afridi scored quickfire 19 runs off just 9 balls and from there onward New Zealand bowlers didn’t allowed Pakistan batsman to score free runs. Pakistan fall short of 22 runs and New Zealand sealed a spot for Semis. Martin Guptill, for his 80 runs knock, adjusted Man of the Match. This is very appreciating performance by this New Zealand side.
4th Match vs Bangladesh at Eden Gardens
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| Comprehensive performance by New Zealand bowlers to beat Bangladesh to make it four out of four. Image Source - Google | Image by - CricketCountry Staff |
New Zealand won the toss for the 4th time in as many matches and elected to bat first. New Zealand already qualified for the Semis and Bangladesh were out of the competition. New Zealand gave rest to Martin Guptill and tried H Nicholls at the top. But it didn't worked as Nicholls was out after scoring 7 runs off 11 balls. Bangladeshi's bowlers didn't allowed New Zealand openers to score free runs and kept the tight line. Hence, New Zealand scored just 39/1 in the powerplay. They lost their skipper Kane Williamson 42(32) off the last ball of 9th over. Taylor 28(24) and Collin Munro 35(33) somehow kept the scoreboard ticking but all credit goes to Bangladesh bowlers to kept New Zealand batsman at bay. New Zealand were 99/3 at the end off 15 overs.Rest of the batsman struggled and New Zealand finished with 145/8 on the board. Mustafizur Rahman was pick of the bowlers for Bangladesh. He took a 5-fer and finished with brillant bowling performance,4-0-22-5. Bangladesh batsman did't step up on Mustafizur performance. Both the opening batsman gone inside powerplay to put pressure on middle order. They were 30/2 after 6 overs and with the kind of form New Zealand bowlers had, Bangladesh would have to bat of to their skin to have any chance of victory. Bangladesh collapsed and with the help of Grant Elliott(3/12) and Ish Sodhi (3/21), New Zealand bowled out Bangladeshi's Tiger for just 70 runs to won the match comfortably by 75 runs. Skipper Kane Williamson awarded Man of the Match. So, New Zealand to go to Semis with high confidence by winning all league matches.
Semi-Final vs England at Feroz Shah Kotla
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| New Zealand slipped up in the Semi Final against England. The only unbeaten side gave below par performance in the Semis. Image Source - Google | Image by - Ram Kumar |
England was up against the only unbeaten side of the tournament, New Zealand at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi. England won the toss and elected to field. David Willey got the better of Martin Guptill for 15. But Skipper Kane Williamson (32) and Collin Munro (46) batted sensibly in the first 10 overs. It was 91 runs on the board when New Zealand lost their skipper in the 11th over. Munro followed him soon. Corey Anderson struggled a bit for his 28(23). Ben Stokes and Chris Jordan didn't allowed New Zealand batsman to score freely in the last 4 overs. As a result New Zealand just scored over 20 runs their final 4 overs and finished with modest 153/8. England started the chase in champions way. They scored 67 runs in first 6 overs. All thanks to Jason Roy 78(44). He was well supported by Alex Hales 20(19). Roy , Hales and Skipper Morgan(0) lost their wickets in quick succession. Though Joe Root's matured inning of 27*(22) and Jos Buttler's quickfire 32*(17) made the chase a lot easier. Buttler finished the game with a 6 and England won by 7 wickets and reached the Finals. Jason Roy won the Man of the Match award for his 78 runs. New Zealand chocked in the Semi-Final.
Expectations in T20 World Cup 2020
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| Image Source - Google | Image by - cricket.com.au |
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