It is pleasing to win against a quality side: Kane Williamson

The Super 10 stage of the World T20 got off to a great start with New Zealand beating hosts India by 47 runs at the VCA Stadium, Nagpur. India, tagged as the favourites of the World T20, were completely knocked over by the New Zealand spin trio of Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi and Nathan McCullum proved too tricky for the Indian batsmen to handle on a turning wicket. Kane Williamson made a ‘Martin Crowe’ style experimental decision and stunned many by choosing three spinners at the cost of Tim Southee, Mitchell McClenaghan Trent Boult and Henry Nicolls. Batting first the Kiwis posted 127/7 in 20 overs with help of handy contributions from Corey Anderson and Luke Ronchi. The task seemed to be simple for India but the Blackcaps spinner totally bamboozled the Indian batsmen and enable their team win the match by 47 runs eventually and kickstart their campaign with a bang.

Speaking at the Post match conference, MS Dhoni had his views clear about the reasons which cost the match for India. MS Dhoni: “It was a low-scoring wicket. We restricted them to a good total, but it was the batting that let us down. There were quite a few soft dismissals. The shot selection put a lot of pressure on the batsmen who were coming in. They bowled well, but at the same time I felt we lacked a bit of adaptability. We are quite used to playing in these conditions. I feel 126 was a decent score, but it was the batting that let us down. I think my thumb will be fine for the next match (smiles, when asked about the blow he got while keeping wickets).”

The winning team captain obviously was happy. He stated that it was tough to leave out his main fast bowlers but the gamble of taking three spinners paid off. Kane Williamson: “Very pleased with the win. It was a tough surface. We would have probably liked a few more, but the boys bowled really well and it is pleasing to win against a quality side. We said we wanted to be aggressive at the start with the bat. It was tough to leave out both Southee and Boult. We looked to adapt to these conditions. The spinners paid off today. The wicket spun a lot. The best way to take wickets was to bowl our best balls and be really patient.”

Mitchell Santner finished with match figures of 4/11 (the best bowling figures by a Kiwi in World T20) and was awarded the man of the match for his mat-winning efforts. Mitchell Santner: “There was a bit of spin out there. The Indians bowled well to keep us to 126. We thought we were maybe below par, but the boys stuck at it and we are delighted with the win. We knew it was going to be tough. Jadeja was really spinning it there. Starting a partnership was hard. We wanted to get to 130-140 and in the end 126 proved to be enough. I just tried to hit that hard length and kept it very simple.”