Team India endured a heavy six-wicket defeat in their first warm-up match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 against New Zealand at The Oval on Saturday (May 25).
Opting to bat, the Men in Blue suffered an early collapse in slightly bowling-friendly conditions. Ravindra Jadeja (54 off 50 balls) and Hardik Pandya (30 off 37 balls) were the only notable contributors as India eventually got bundled out for 179 in 39.2 overs. For New Zealand, Trent Boult was the stand-out bowler, claiming 4 for 33 in his 6.2 overs. All-rounder Jimmy Neesham also chipped in with three scalps.
In reply, the Kiwis rode on captain Kane Williamson’s 87-ball 67 and Ross Taylor’s 75-ball 71 to overhaul the target in just 37.1 overs.
Speaking after the match, India skipper Virat Kohli admitted his side couldn’t execute their plans. He also urged the lower-order batsmen to be battle ready in case the top-order perishes early in overcast conditions.
“Didn’t go to plan. Good challenge up front though. We can expect that in some places in England when conditions are overcast. From 50 for 4 to get to 180 was a good effort,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
“In a tournament like the World Cup, the top order can go off sometimes, so Hardik getting runs, MS (Dhoni) absorbing pressure and Jadeja’s fifty, those were good positives,” he added.
Reflecting on India’s bowling effort, Virat said: “We bowled well -- they were going at 4, 4.5 per over -- and looking at that in isolation we did well. Fielders are going to play a crucial role, half chances will be massive. We’ll have to be precise in all three departments.”
On the other hand, Black Caps skipper Kane Williamson was happy with the effort of his seamers and he plans to use the spinners more in the second warm-up match against West Indies on Tuesday (May 28).
“With the new ball, there was a little bit of seam movement, not too much swing. We didn’t get too much from the spinners but hopefully we can get them some work in the second warm-up game,” he said.
“It was quicker in the first innings than the second innings, it got slower later on.”
Williamson said his team was trying to be flexible in their batting unit.
“Henry (Nicholls) can bat at the top and in the middle. And with Tom’s (Latham) finger being injured, we wanted to have (Colin) Munro up there to give us options. We are trying to be flexible as we know Munro can be destructive. Facing a quality side like India and scoring some runs is always good,” he concluded.
(With PTI inputs)
