The notorious Manchester weather pushed the first semifinal of the World Cup to the reserve day after dominant Indian bowlers excelled yet again to restrict New Zealand to a sub-par 211 for five, here Tuesday.
Rain forced players off the field after 46.1 overs and asper ICC’s playing conditions, the game will resume on Wednesday from where itstopped.
Despite half-centuries from skipper Kane Williamson (67 off95 balls) and veteran Ross Taylor (67 not out off 85 balls), the Black Caps couldnot force the pace against tournament’s best bowling attack.
By the time when the covers were off at 10pm IST, theoutfield had too much water and there was no way match could have started.
However the day belonged to the Indian bowlers as skipper ViratKohli found out that it was a good toss to lose.
After a brilliant start by Jasprit Bumrah (1/25 in 8 overs)and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/30 in 8.1 overs), Ravindra Jadeja (1/38 off 10 overs)and Hardik Pandya (1/55 in 10 overs) did well in the middle overs to keep theopposition under check.
If the first Powerplay was witness to fine exhibition ofswing bowling under overcast conditions, the middle overs had Pandya using thenewly-laid two-paced pitch to good effect, bringing the slow bouncer to thefore.
That was one delivery that Taylor initially found difficultto get away as the dot ball count increased with each over.
Martin Guptill (1) looked like a ‘walking wicket’ and Bumrahrelieved him off his misery with a delivery that kicked up from three quarterlength, forcing him to push at it. Kohli at second slip made no mistake with asharp chance.
Williamson looked compact in his defence along with the edgyHenry Nicholls (28 off 51 balls) during their 68-run second wicket stand.
Such was the impact of the first spell bowled by Bumrah andBhuvneshwar that the Black Caps innings never gained the momentum.
But credit should also be given to Jadeja and Hardik forkeeping the Kiwis under a tight leash.
Jadeja vindicated his skipper’s decision with tight wicket-towicket bowling and the odd one that turned created problems for Nicholls. Hehad 38 dots to his credit by the time he ended the spell.
Williamson, who was getting into some sort of rhythm howevercouldn’t capitalise as Taylor got stuck playing one dot ball after another.
In fact, during the crucial second Powerplay, New Zealandmanaged only 65 runs in 17 overs as Chahal got decent turn off his leg-breaks.
The New Zealand captain, who was hitting a few slog sweepsagainst the turn was getting impatient having reached 50 off 79 balls.Williamson paid the price by gifting his wicket to the leg-spinner when histeam needed him the most.
Taylor upped the ante in the final overs with threeboundaries and a six but it looks unlikely to be enough.
A fresh day will certainly be advantageous for India as itwill be a continuation and not a restart. Any advantage earned on the scheduledday will be carried through to the reserve day. Super over will determine thewinner, if it’s a tied match.If the match doesn’t happen on Wednesday, thenIndia will progress to the final by virtue of finishing on top of the leaguetable.