Bloemfontein, Jan 31:
India beat New Zealand by a comfortable margin of 214 runs here to boost their semifinal chances. The loss of the previous game’s centurion Arshin Kulkarni for nine, had little impact on India’s approach in the first Powerplay.
Adarsh Singh and Musheer Khan went for their shots on a wicket where the ball came easily on the bat and the outfield was fast.
India’s scoring rate remained closer to six at the start of the second Powerplay. Both the batsmen kept their foot on the pedal, even as India crossed the 100-run mark in the 17th over.
Adarsh fell after his fifty, failing to pierce Zac Cumming past the covers. Musheer was joined by skipper Uday Saharan, and the duo held the innings together. Musheer reached his third successive fifty-plus score of the tournament in the 25th over.
Their patient accumulation was disrupted when Saharan (34) tried to dispatch Oliver Tewatiya with a sweep but ended up top-edging straight to Zac Cumming.
New Zealand were able to contain India’s scoring rate at close to five during the middle overs, with the Boys in Blue scoring 145 runs in the overs 11-40.
Musheer’s belligerence mounted India’s charge towards 300. The batsman reached his second successive hundred of the tournament in the 43rd over and then upped his scoring rate.
After reaching his century, Musheer added 31 runs off merely 17 balls. This included three fours and two sixes.
Late strikes from Mason Clarke (4/62) meant that India fell just short of that mark.
Raj Limbani was right on the mark with the very first ball, swerving one right back in to rattle Tom Jones’ stumps. He didn’t have to wait long for his second, as another corker trapped Snehith Reddy leg before for a duck.
Saumy Pandey opened the innings with the new ball and troubled the young Kiwis too. He beat Lachlan Stackpole in the sixth over and bowled the southpaw for a five.
Then in his very next over, he trapped James Nelson in front of the wicket to leave New Zealand four down.
The young Kiwis slipped further in overs 11-20. Naman Tiwari cleaned up Tewatiya in the 12th over after the batter tried to fend off a good-length delivery and completely missed the line.
Oscar Jackson and Zac Cumming tried to halt the slide, but the former fell to an exceptional yorker from Musheer. Jackson tried to fend the ball toward the leg side but was bowled in the process.
When Cumming fell while trying to attempt an ambitious reverse sweep against Saumy Pandey, the writing was on the wall for the Kiwis. They were bowled out in the 29th over. Pandey led the India bowling effort with his 4/19
