Today's game: A rollercoaster of emotions.
Before the start of the world cup, there was a lot of talk that this edition would be all about high-scoring 330+ games. But to everyone's surprise, many important games panned out as "a shorter test match rather than a longer T20 game"
Looking at the scoreboard after the first innings, NZ posted a formidable score on the board. India would have been quite confident about the chase at the halfway mark. But New Zealand believed they were in the game if they strike early. And this belief bolstered after the early damage done to the Indian top order.
India was suddenly 5-3 in no time, credit to top-quality fast bowling effort by the Kiwi bowlers. This pushed India on the backfoot. Pant and Kartik played out the remaining overs in the first powerplay before Kartik getting dismissed by a stunning catch by Neesham.
Now a lot of people were surprised seeing Pandya coming to bat instead of Dhoni. But the duo played sensibly for ten-odd overs before Pant succumbed to the building pressure of dot balls and went with his natural instinct of hitting the ball over the fence and getting caught by Grandhome at deep mid-wicket. The scoreboard being 71-5 now for India.
With Pandya still on the other side striking the ball decently well, India still had hopes for a turnaround with Dhoni coming on to the crease finally. The duo managed to build a sluggish 21 run partnership before Pandya got out in a similar fashion as Pant did, trying to release the pressure and getting caught at mid-on. Almost all of India's hopes including mine were shattered after this dismissal.
As it is rightly said, "It isn't over till it's over". There is a reason why Jadeja is distinguished as "SIR Jadeja", today was no better proof of why it is so. Mind you, this was the first time Jadeja got a chance to bat in this entire World Cup.
Boy! he played some brilliant, fearless cricket. We all are aware of his fielding and bowling capabilities. He was outstanding today with the bat (scoring 77 off 59 balls), the ball (1-34) as well as in the field with a catch and an important runout.
From 92-6 to 208-7, it felt that India was getting a grip back on the game. But the Kiwis struck again. Jadeja was dismissed at mid-off trying to slog the ball over long-off. Still, the game wasn't over with MS still on the other side and a gettable required run rate.
After striking Ferguson for a six on the very first ball of the 49th over, Dhoni got run out of a blinder of a direct hit at the stumps by Guptill's fielding excellence.
Well, the emotions involved in the game were conspicuously visible on the faces in the dressing room, the fans and also MS this very time. The fans were maybe more emotional than gutted to see off a legend walking out of the field possibly for the last time on the world cup stage.
I would like to conclude by reminding that for the most part of this tournament the Indian team dominated and played some excellent brand of cricket. And they deserve nothing but utmost respect.
Looking at the scoreboard after the first innings, NZ posted a formidable score on the board. India would have been quite confident about the chase at the halfway mark. But New Zealand believed they were in the game if they strike early. And this belief bolstered after the early damage done to the Indian top order.
India was suddenly 5-3 in no time, credit to top-quality fast bowling effort by the Kiwi bowlers. This pushed India on the backfoot. Pant and Kartik played out the remaining overs in the first powerplay before Kartik getting dismissed by a stunning catch by Neesham.
Now a lot of people were surprised seeing Pandya coming to bat instead of Dhoni. But the duo played sensibly for ten-odd overs before Pant succumbed to the building pressure of dot balls and went with his natural instinct of hitting the ball over the fence and getting caught by Grandhome at deep mid-wicket. The scoreboard being 71-5 now for India.
With Pandya still on the other side striking the ball decently well, India still had hopes for a turnaround with Dhoni coming on to the crease finally. The duo managed to build a sluggish 21 run partnership before Pandya got out in a similar fashion as Pant did, trying to release the pressure and getting caught at mid-on. Almost all of India's hopes including mine were shattered after this dismissal.
As it is rightly said, "It isn't over till it's over". There is a reason why Jadeja is distinguished as "SIR Jadeja", today was no better proof of why it is so. Mind you, this was the first time Jadeja got a chance to bat in this entire World Cup.
Boy! he played some brilliant, fearless cricket. We all are aware of his fielding and bowling capabilities. He was outstanding today with the bat (scoring 77 off 59 balls), the ball (1-34) as well as in the field with a catch and an important runout.
From 92-6 to 208-7, it felt that India was getting a grip back on the game. But the Kiwis struck again. Jadeja was dismissed at mid-off trying to slog the ball over long-off. Still, the game wasn't over with MS still on the other side and a gettable required run rate.
After striking Ferguson for a six on the very first ball of the 49th over, Dhoni got run out of a blinder of a direct hit at the stumps by Guptill's fielding excellence.
Well, the emotions involved in the game were conspicuously visible on the faces in the dressing room, the fans and also MS this very time. The fans were maybe more emotional than gutted to see off a legend walking out of the field possibly for the last time on the world cup stage.
I would like to conclude by reminding that for the most part of this tournament the Indian team dominated and played some excellent brand of cricket. And they deserve nothing but utmost respect.
Nice🙌☺️
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ReplyDeleteNice! Keep it up 🔥
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