World Twenty20: India risk humiliating exit as bold New Zealand spin early shock

Hosts lose opening match

New Zealand players celebrate after the wicket of India's batsman Shikhar Dhawan (GETTY IMAGES)

New Zealand confounded all expectations yesterday by defeating India, hosts and overwhelming favourites, in the World Twenty20. If the astonishing result in Nagpur, with New Zealand bowling out India for 79 to win by 47 runs, opened up the competition, it also left the fearful prospect of India being eliminated at the first stage.

Such an outcome looked utterly out of the question when New Zealand seemed to have made a hash of their innings after winning the toss. Their total of 126 for 7 looked woefully inadequate against a side which had lost only one of their last 11 matches.

But India were utterly undone by their opponents’ decision to field three spin bowlers, all of whom played a significant role. Nathan McCullum’s off breaks undermined India from the opening over, the leg spinner Ish Sodhi removed the dangerous Virat Kohli with his first ball of the tournament and the slow left-arm of Mitchell Santner swept aside the middle order.

The latter duo both turned the ball prodigiously and India, in a way, were hoist by their own petard. They looked inept, even intimidated, by the turning ball. India’s second match is against Pakistan in Dharamsala on Saturday and another loss would make qualification for the semi-finals, which had seemed inevitable, improbable. The trouble is that the tournament needs India as much as India need the tournament.

There was a dramatic start to the first match of the Super 10 stage when Martin Guptill hit a searing straight six off the first ball from Ravichandran Ashwin and was lbw to the second, unluckily since replays showed the ball was clearing the stumps by inches.

After two overs New Zealand were 14 for 2 and never truly recovered. Kane Williamson was smartly stumped by MS Dhoni with deceptive ease – it was a good match for both wicketkeepers – and Ross Taylor was the victim of an extraordinary run out by Suresh Raina, who swooped low to his left in his follow through and back-handed the ball on to the stumps with the batsman backing up.

New Zealand’s surprising choice of three spinners, meaning they left out their admirable seam pairing of Trent Boult and Tim Southee, was now tested. It proved to be vindicated completely.

McCullum, operating round the wicket, had Shikhar Dhawan lbw with the fifth ball of the opening over, Santner dismissed Rohit Sharma and Raina in the third over. Part of Williamson’s policy as New Zealand’s new captain was to rotate his bowlers regularly.

By the end of the third over India were 12 for 3, by the end of the fifth 26 for 4 when Yuvraj Singh misread the spin and offered a return catch.

With Kohli and Dhoni, all was far from lost. But when Kohli edged a turning ball from Sodhi, that was just about that. The rate went up, wickets kept falling and it was all done with 11 balls left.