World T20: New Zealand kept to 126 on sluggish surface

MUMBAI: Six, wicket, dot, six. The first four balls of game 13 of the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 - the fixture that opened up the tournament proper - started in emphatic manner. Unfortunately for New Zealand, their aggressive intent on a tough surface against a settled and successful Indian bowling attack misfired more than it hit the bullseye, and they will have to bowl out of their skins to defend a total of 126/7 at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur.
As four wickets fell inside 12 overs with a run rate of 5.60, Corey Anderson struggled to mix aggression with accumulation and his 34 was the best individual contribution across the first 20 overs of this hyped up match. India will back themselves to win their first T20I over New Zealand in five attempts.
That they have to chase a target of 127 owes to their control in the field on a surface not conducive to expansive shots. Martin Guptill's stay lasted two balls into the match, the first larruped back over R Ashwin's head for six and the second thudding into his pads to beat his sweep shot. Enter Colin Munro, who fiercely reverse-swept his second ball over point for six to give Ashwin figures of 1/13 off the first over. India's second strike came moments later with Munro punching Ashish Nehra to mid-off. Kane Williamson, after two overs, was zero not out off two balls.
Bogged down, Williamson tried some inventive shots and eventually fell to a harried rush down the track to Suresh Raina in the seventh over, stumped for eight from 16 balls.
At this stage Anderson was 13 from 17. An uppish drive off Jasprit Bumrah wide of mid-off gave him his third boundary, but that was to be all he could collect. During this time, Anderson was left to poke and scurry for singles, and it was one such frenzied attempt at a run that saw Ross Taylor run out by an agile Raina.
Ashwin bowled his four overs for 32 runs, Raina delivered a nagging four-over spell of 1/16 and that set up the death overs for India's bowlers to close in further. Anderson was yorked for 34 from 42 balls by Bumrah in the 16th over, exposing the stumps in a feeble attempt to paddle, and Ravindra Jadeja had Mitchell Santner (18) top-edging to MS Dhoni. A four and six to Luke Ronchi (21* off 11 balls) in the 20th over, bowled by Nehra, had the feeling of being too little, too late.
The only sixes in their innings were the two that came off Ashwin in the first over of the match, indicative of how tough the batsmen found it thereon. New Zealand have dropped Tim Southee and Trent Boult to accommodate three spinners, and now the onus is on them to make this total work.
Brief scores: New Zealand 126/7 in 20 overs (Corey Anderson 34, Luke Ronchi 21*) v India