Daryl Mitchell (49 off 35 balls) and Kane Williamson (33 not out off 31 balls) led New Zealand to an emphatic eight-wicket win over India in an important Group 2 match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup at the Dubai International Stadium here on Sunday.
After restricting India to paltry 110/7 in 20 overs, New Zealand chased down the target easily with 33 balls to spare.
Martin Guptill began by hitting Varun Chakravarthy for back-to-back boundaries in the third over. Guptill took a boundary off Jasprit Bumrah in the next over. But on the next ball, Guptill miscued a loft to mid-on, Shardul Thakur grabbed it on the second attempt. Daryl Mitchell welcomed Ravindra Jadeja in the final over of Power-play with a six over long-on followed by back-to-back fours.
Mitchell-Williamson bat to win
Post Powerplay, Mitchell continued this good show, slamming Mohammed Shami for a six over deep square leg. He then took 14 runs off Thakur in the tenth over, smoking a six over cow corner followed by back-to-back fours. Mitchell stitched a partnership of 72 off 54 balls with Kane Williamson to keep New Zealand steady in the chase.
Mitchell fell a run short of his maiden T20I half-century in the 13th over, holing out to long-on off Bumrah. Williamson hanged around to hit two fours off Hardik Pandya in the 14th over before scoring the winning single to complete their first win of the ongoing tournament.
Brief scores: India 110/7 in 20 overs (Ravindra Jadeja 26 not out, Hardik Pandya 23, Trent Boult 3/20, Ish Sodhi 2/17) lost to New Zealand 111/2 in 14.3 overs (Daryl Mitchell 49, Kane Williamson 33 not out, Jasprit Bumrah 2/19) by eight wickets.
(With inputs from IANS)
