What a match it
turned out to be ! – the 1st Semi-finals at Abu dhabi in ICCT20I WC 2021.
In 1983
Prudential World Cup, West Indies were the clear favourites and New Zealand
were considered dark horses ! – England were formidable .. .. Kim Hughes led Australia
had Jeff Thomson, Dennis Lillie, Rodney
Hogg, Geoff Lawson and little known Ken MacLeay (who came in as replacement for
Greg Chappell and took a six for against India) and .. .. Trevor Chappel, Alan
Border, David Hookes, Kepler Wessels, Greame Wood, Yallop .. .. and Rodney
Marsh but could not qualify for Semis even.
Kiwis with their pleasant
demeanour are always a side liked by many.
in a tense situation (17.1) – Adil Rashid bowled to Jimmy Neesham who
hit that straight, Rashid trying to stop, collided and stopped the non-striker
Darryl Mitchell (one could argue that he almost pulled up Mitchell) – the ball
went past and Neesham called – but Darryl Mitchell refused a single – an
impressive gentle act at that !!!
After high
octane drama of the final overs – Laura McGoldrick who is seen here with VVS Laxman tweeted, I am here to see
this – New Zealand has reached their first Men’s T20 WC !! - she is a broadcaster, a presenter, a radio
host, MC and part time actress.
Was Cool Captain Kane
Williamson confused ? or was that a plan – Tim Southee bowled 4/24; Trent Boult
went for some – 4/40; Adam Milne 4/31 and Ish Sodhi 4/32 – the specialist
Mitchell Santner bowled just one giving 8; all rounder James neesham bowled 2
overs for 18 and the remaining one had been bowled by Glenn Philips, a
part-time offie, a wicket-keeper !! – the chase requiring 166 went awry –
Martin Guptill was out to the 3rd ball in 1st over – Kane Williamson followed
sooner making it 13/2 in 2.4 – then they progressed rather slowly, a bit
scratchily – Devon Conway got out making it 95/3 (13.4) and Glenn Philips got
out at 15.1 score reading 107/4 – James
Neesham walked in to join Mitchell, trying to tilt the imponderable.
End of over 16 of Liam
Livingstone that yielded only 3 runs and a wicket, Kiwis required 57 off mere
24 balls. Neesham on 1 had just joined
Daryl Mitchell who had 46 off 40. Mark
Wood and Livingstone had completed their spell.
Then came the anti-climax as Chris Jordan was hit all over the park for
23 runs – now Kiwis needing 34 off 18 looking eminently gettable. Adil Rashid bowled the next one well – taking
a wicket and getting Neesham whose 27 off 11 balls with 3 sixers had changed
the complexion of the chase. That brought bespectacled Santner to the crease –
Daryl Mitchell ensured that there were no hiccups in an over Chris Woakes that
read : 2 6 6 1 1 4 - the mayhem caused
by Mitchell and Neesham may not near the fireworks of Carlos Brathwaite off Ben
Stokes in Kolkata but the result – England sunk !!
England for sure fancied
their chances till that scoreline of 57 required of 24 balls ! – they had
batted strategically, not the bang bang method in powerplay but methodical approach and set up a more than
decent target. Jimmy Neesham’s madness changed their fortune – first six was a
mishit – and another big hit saw Jhonny Bairstow diving spectacularly taking
the catch, releasing it back swiftly but replays clearly showed that he had
already touched the ropes before flicking it back and it was another 6 !
When Neesham left, there was
still lot to be done – but the accidental opener, Daryl Mitchell, whose father John
Mitchell, was former All Blacks player and coach ensured nice finish. He is known to be a big hitter in Super smash
but had an injury colliding with Colin
de Grandhomme that kept him away for the entire 2020-21 home summer, .. .. suddenly enters as an Opener against
India and is now in thick of action.
The reference
to the tweet is that of Broadcaster Laura McGoldrick and she is the wife of
cricketer Martin Guptill - so best of luck New Zealand – perhaps this is most ripe time for Kiwis
winning the elusive title.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
11.11.2021.
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