The entire nation of India were behind Scotland as they took on New Zealand in a Group 2 encounter in Dubai on Wednesday. Indian fans were hoping for a Scotland win, which would then put India in serious contention for qualification into the semi-final stages of the T20 World Cup. For a brief period of time, it looked like that could well happen. However, the Black Caps fended off the Scottish attack, and scored a convincing win in the end.
Scotland won the toss and decided to put the Kiwis in to bat. New Zealand opener Martin Guptill struck a few boundaries in the powerplay to maintain a steady run rate for his side. However, he had no support from the other end, as NZ lost three quick wickets, including captain Kane Williamson for a four-ball duck.
With the score at 52/3 just after the powerplay, Glenn Phillips joined the veteran Guptill, who was looking in ominous form. The two took it upon themselves to get the Kiwi innings back on track, as they built a solid partnership, with Phillips taking the backseat, playing a supporting role as Guptill scored freely.
The two played the crucial middle overs phase in excellent fashion, and released initial the pressure completely. They added 105 runs for the fourth wicket, before Phillips was dismissed for 33. Guptill was also dismissed off the very next ball, as he hit a tired shot straight to long-on, departing for a wonderful innings of 93, bringing the New Zealand total up to a formidable 172.
With a great task at hand, and a big score to chase, Scotland had their task cut out. The openers looked in good touch in the initial few overs, as the boundaries kept coming. Kyle Coetzer and captain George Munsey ensured that Scotland got off to a decent start, hitting the experienced New Zealand bowling attack for a few boundaries.
Coetzer was dismissed for a brief innings of 17, that included four boundaries. Matthew Cross, who stepped in at number three, continued that same momentum as he took Adam Milne’s over for 20 runs, smashing five fours off the first five balls. However, the seasoned Kiwi bowlers stifled the flow of runs quickly, bowling some tight lines to frustrate the batsmen, which eventually led to the downfall of the Scottish chase.
Scotland lost their middle order in the space of a few overs, which made the run rate creep up to 14, with five overs to play. It was going to be too much for the Scots in any case, but the veteran Michael Leask was not going to give up, taking Ish Sodhi’s 18th over for 17 runs. Nevertheless, Leask’s heroics couldn’t rescue the Scots as their innings ended on 156/5, handing NZ a comfortable 16-run victory.
Brief scores
New Zealand- 172/5 in 20 overs (Guptill- 93(56); Phillips-33(37); Sharif-2/28)
Scotland- 156/5 in 20 overs (Leask- 42(20); Cross-27(29); Boult- 2/29)
New Zealand beat Scotland by 16 runs.
