It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the whole of India rooted for Scotland, which their wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Cross was heard saying as he egged on leg-spinner Chris Greaves when New Zealand were three down for 50-odd after the Powerplay overs.
The events during that period of the game had Scotland as well as the Indian fans really excited and hopeful of a serious upset. But Martin Guptill’s quality stood out when it really mattered for the Black Caps as he helped them to reach a formidable total .
In the end, New Zealand wrapped it up by 16 runs, registering their second win in the competition at the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday to keep themselves more or less safe in Group II, causing a little bit of heartbreak as well for Indian fans.
Courtesy Guptill’s power-hitting that fetched him 93 off 56 balls, New Zealand recovered to reach 172/5 and despite Scotland trying their best to make a match out of it with some splendid hits into the stands, all they could manage was 156/5.
With their third straight defeat, Scotland’s T20 World Cup campaign is over as their next two matches, versus India and Pakistan, are now of academic interest.
However, their approach and the attitude they showed in this edition of the competition should serve them really well going into future assignments. Make no mistake, they did really scare New Zealand both with the ball and bat.
Guptill’s knock, thus, assumes a fair amount of significance, considering New Zealand all of a sudden found themselves wobbling at 52/3 in the seventh over from 35/0, after being put in to bat.
More worrying for the Black Caps were the dismissals of both captain Kane Williamson and Devon Conway, two key men in their batting line-up.
Things could well have gone awry for them from thereon. But focusing initially on consolidation, Guptill, with good assist from Glenn Phillips (33), latched on to anything that offered even a little bit of width or room to free his arms.
Six fours and seven sixes, of which at least five were towering ones, adorned the reliable opener’s knock that almost single-handedly took New Zealand to a respectable total. Guptill deserved a hundred, but the Dubai heat seemed to have taken its toll on him, affecting his running between the wickets particularly as the innings progressed.
Captain Williamson praised Guptill and was glad that his seasoned opener got going as the team headed towards the semis. “Guptill is a power player. He is hitting the ball beautifully. We really needed his innings. Also Glenn Phillips, and that partnership was necessary to get us to a good total.”
To speak of the New Zealand bowlers, the start wasn’t really good as Scotland were quite well placed run-rate wise at 66/1 in the eighth over. But Tim Southee, Mitchell Santner and Trent Boult brought in the much-needed discipline to peg the Scotsmen back.
