Varun takes five as India top group and set up Australia showdown
Williamson's 81 in vain as New Zealand crumble against spin chasing 250
Williamson's 81 in vain as New Zealand crumble against spin chasing 250
Scorer: Chandan Duorah | Commentator: S Sudarshanan
That is all we have for you from Dubai tonight. Hope you enjoy our coverage. On behalf of Ranjith and Ashish, I, Sudarshanan, bid you goodbye. Ciao, folks!
8:10pm A commanding bowling show from India seals their win tonight. At the halfway stage it looked like they fell short with the bat. But the spinners mounted a superb comeback and New Zealand crumbed under the pressure of the climbing asking rate. They collapsed to 6 for 54 to be bowled out for 205. Williamson played anchor throughout but ran out of patience with the required rate climbing. The damage was really done in the middle overs where India's spinners applied the breaks on scoring. They did not pick wickets in heap at that point but never allowed even set batters to score. Mitchell, Latham and Phillips all tried changing gears but failed. India's four-pronged spin attack could be tough to contend with, especially in the absence of dew in these conditions.
Varun Chakravarthy, Player of the Match: "I did feel nervous in the initial stages. Not played a lot for India in ODIs, so was nervous. As the game progressed, felt better. Virat, Rohit, Shreyas, Hardik everyone was talking to me and asked me to calm down. Found out last night about play. Was expecting to play for the country and looking forward, but was nervous. It was not a rank-turner but if you bowled in the right places, it helped. The way Kuldeep, Jaddu, Axar bowled, even the pacers. it was a total team effort."
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Mitchell Santner, NZ captain: "A slower wicket than what we have come up against. India controlled the middle phase. Shreyas batted well and Hardik finished off. Spun more than we thought, spun more than the other games here. Four quality spinners makes it tough. Key for us was wickets in the powerplay. Kane's form nice for us. South Africa are a quality side. In those wickets with pace and bounce, they have good four pacers."
Rohit Sharma, India captain: "Very important for us to finish on a high. New Zealand a good side, playing well in the recent past. Axar-Shreyas partnership was important after losing wickets in the first powerplay. They got us to good total, with our quality bowlers, we had the confidence to defend that. Varun has got something different, wanted to try and see what he had to offer. We got to think a little about what to do for the next game, good headache. If he gets it right, very difficult to read him. Momentum critical in such a short game. Try and win game, try and do everything right. Mistakes happen but correcting that is important. It is going to be a good game. Australia have a rich history of playing well in ICC tournaments. About us to do things right. We have to be focussed on what we need to do on that day. Looking forward to that, hopefully we can stitch one towards us."
Mustafa Moudi : "Fun Fact: New Zealand Becomes the Semi-Finalist to lose a Game in Group Stage. Seems to be the only edition where 3 Semi-Finalists entering the Knockout Stage Unbeaten!!"
Phani: "All the other 3 semifinalists would be hoping for a India loss - Aus to reach final, NZ and SA to avoid travel"
W O'Rourke b Kuldeep Yadav 1 (3m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 50
Will O'Rourke is the last man in
MJ Henry c Kohli b Varun 2 (16m 4b 0x4 0x6) SR: 50
Kumble says Australia will find it difficult if India play four spinners in their semi-final in Dubai
"In T20, my sequencing of balls - as in how I construct an over - is totally different compared to the 50-over format," he says
Williamson's 81 in vain as New Zealand crumble against spin chasing 250
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Fielding brilliance underpins New Zealand's low-key threat as they lay down a marker even in defeat