New Zealand were struggling for the most part of their innings and were 211/5 in 46.1 overs when rain interrupted proceedings. The cricket on show was utterly fascinating, though. It was cloudy but the ball wasn’t swinging around much.There was enough to keep the batsmen wary though. New Zealand, who lost their last three matches chasing, chose to bat after winning the toss. The forecast was that it might get cloudier (with a chance of rain) later in the afternoon which might help their bowlers. Their plan seemed simple. Keep wickets in hand, see off the new ball, and then try to take charge. But this is where the pitch derailed them – of sorts. Just when they had done the initial hard work, and the spinners came on – the ball started to grip and turn.
Even former English cricketer Derek Pringle, now a mediaman, was surprised. “Normally, Manchester would throw up bounce for spinners but not this much turn.” But the pitch had looked bare and dry in the morning – and so it wasn’t a surprise.What that meant was that New Zealand played out 153 dot balls. In the commentary studio, Steve Waugh, who has won a cup or two, offered his insight on New Zealand’s approach. Responding to a question why New Zealand do well to get to the semifinals but then stumble, he said: “It is lack of self-belief in big games. Sometimes you need to take the risk, you got to be prepared to fail to succeed, and perhaps they don’t take that initiative. Even today, it must be worthwhile throwing one of their middle-order batsmen up the order and he would take a risk.”
‘To be prepared to fail to succeed’ is a wonderful way to put it. Brendon McCullumdid so in the last World Cup final and apparently. just before he ran into the bowl that crunching yorker that killed that game, Mitchell Starc had thoughts about how McCullum was going to swing his way to a hundred. He turned around, thudded in and lashed out a toe-crusher. Game over.
But in the here and now, one could understand the Kiwi caution. Their confidence in the batting would have ebbed away in the last three matches. Add to it the possible surprise about the turn during the course of play. A total around 250 on this track looked very good, though – scoreboard pressure, semifinal pressure, and chase pressure. Kane Williamson would come to rue his shot, though. He was well set, had batted pretty well, but on a pitch where the ball was turning, he chose a strange shot.
The delivery from Yuzvendra Chahal had broken away, when he suddenly thought he was Virender Sehwag, the only batsman who could have pulled off that shot. Williamson threw his hands at the turning ball on the rise, but it squirted off the edge to backward point.
It was 134/3 in the 36th over with his exit, and New Zealand had to regroup all over again. Luckily, Ross Taylor took over, ensuring that they would bat the full overs. He played the odd big shot – the familiar slog sweep for a six, the conventional sweep, and the attempted paddles of the seamers.
And he crept to equal Williamson’s score of 67 – his came off 85 balls, 10 balls fewer than his captain. Also, he made sure New Zealand added 77 runs in the last nine overs of play before the rain came down.
Only if we had got a proper full-overs chase on the same day, in the same conditions, would we be able to judge their effort. Who knows what pressure India would have been under if they had chased on the same day in similar conditions? Now, if the sun is out on Wednesday, the whole game changes. If it’s more cloudy, the game changes again. But here is a more dire news if you are a neutral, fair, or a New Zealand fan. No game, and India go through as they were higher-placed after the league phase.
