India's World Cup dream shattered as New Zealand win by 18 runs

Published July 10, 2019
New Zealand's Mitchell Santner celebrates with team mates after taking the wicket of India's Hardik Pandya in World Cup semi-final on July 10. — Reuters
New Zealand's Mitchell Santner celebrates with team mates after taking the wicket of India's Hardik Pandya in World Cup semi-final on July 10. — Reuters
MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja have built a much-needed partnership, increasing India's chances to progress to the World Cup final. — Photo courtesy ICC Twitter
MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja have built a much-needed partnership, increasing India's chances to progress to the World Cup final. — Photo courtesy ICC Twitter
New Zealand's Matt Henry (L) celebrates taking the wicket of India's Dinesh Karthik during the 2019 Cricket World Cup first semi-final between New Zealand and India at Old Trafford in Manchester on July 10. — AFP
New Zealand's Matt Henry (L) celebrates taking the wicket of India's Dinesh Karthik during the 2019 Cricket World Cup first semi-final between New Zealand and India at Old Trafford in Manchester on July 10. — AFP
India's Bhuvneshwar Kumar, left, runs to field the ball after a shot played by New Zealand's Tom Latham during the Cricket World Cup semi-final match between India and New Zealand at Old Trafford in Manchester, England on Wednesday. — AP
India's Bhuvneshwar Kumar, left, runs to field the ball after a shot played by New Zealand's Tom Latham during the Cricket World Cup semi-final match between India and New Zealand at Old Trafford in Manchester, England on Wednesday. — AP
India's Rohit Sharma reacts as he leaves the field after being dismissed by New Zealand's Matt Henry during the Cricket World Cup semi-final match between India and New Zealand at Old Trafford in Manchester on July 10.— AP
India's Rohit Sharma reacts as he leaves the field after being dismissed by New Zealand's Matt Henry during the Cricket World Cup semi-final match between India and New Zealand at Old Trafford in Manchester on July 10.— AP

India's World Cup dream was shattered when the team bundled out for 221 with three balls remaining in the semi-final against New Zealand at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Matt Henry — who wrecked India's top order — was awarded Man of the Match for his 3-37. New Zealand will now play either Australia or England at Lords on July 14.

This is the second time the Black Caps have reached the World Cup final. In the 2015 World Cup, New Zealand had lost to Australia.

India got off to a disastrous start and lost four wickets in their opening powerplay. Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and skipper Virat Kohli were all dismissed after scoring a single each. After four overs, India were 5 for the loss of three wickets.

India received the first setback in the second over, when Henry removed Sharma, who is so far the top runscorer in the World Cup. In the next over, Kohli fell to paceman Trent Boult and had to return to the pavilion when a review upheld the umpire's decision of an lbw.

Rahul became Henry's second victim when New Zealand wicketkeeper Tom Latham took a catch at first slip in the fourth over.

Dinesh Karthik (6) had to walk off after James Neesham took an exceptional one-handed catch at backward point on a delivery by Henry in the 10th over.

New Zealand could have scooped up another important wicket in the 13th over, when Neesham dropped a catch at midwicket that would have dismissed Rishabh Pant (32). The left-hander had hit two of the three boundaries hit by the Indian batsmen until that point and built a 47-run partnership with Hardik Pandya (32), though runs came slow.

Pant was dismissed in the 23rd over, when he played right into the hands of Colin de Grandhomme in the 23rd over, reducing his team to 71 for 5.

The over, bowled by Santner, was all the more precious for New Zealand as it was a wicket maiden. Santner struck again in the 31st over, when he removed Pandya.

India's hopes to qualify for the World Cup final had increased after MS Dhoni (50) and Ravindra Jadeja (77) built a 116-run partnership, that would have proved to be crucial if the men in blue made it through to the end.

Jadeja played an important role in giving India hope of progressing to the World Cup final, scoring 77 runs off 58 balls. New Zealand bowlers had successfully restricted the flow of runs while picking up crucial wickets at regular intervals, making it increasingly hard for India to chase the 240-run target set by the Black Caps. However, Jadeja's aggressive batting and a few dropped catches by the Black Caps had let up pressure on India.

A win still seemed off the cards as the required run rate continued to soar beyond India's reach. The remaining hopes were dashed after Jadeja's dismissal at the hands of Trent Boult in the 48th over. Jadeja hit the ball high up but not far enough as it landed in New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson's safe hands.

Dhoni was run out by a direct hit from Martin Guptill in the 49th over. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0) followed him two balls later when he was removed by Lockie Ferguson.

Yuzvendra Chahal (5) managed to hit a boundary in the final over, when India required 23 runs off 6 balls, but was dismissed two balls later by James Neesham.

New Zealand innings

New Zealand on Wednesday set a 239 run target for India in the World Cup semi-final at Old Trafford, where persistent rain led to a premature end to play on Tuesday and the need to use a reserve day set aside by organisers.

The Kiwis resumed the match on 211-5 with 3.5 overs remaining. New Zealand wrapped up their innings on the second day of play at 239-8.

The final overs were bowled by pacemen Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, who on Tuesday helped to tie down New Zealand's batsmen with disciplined bowling on a sluggish pitch. Kumar picked up two wickets today while Bumrah took the wicket of Ross Taylor.

It was forecast to be cloudy again in Manchester, making batting conditions difficult. But play was not interrupted today by rain.

England and Australia meet in the second semifinal at Edgbaston on Thursday. The final is at Lord's on Sunday.

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