A sensational spell of seam bowling from New Zealand pacers Trent Boult and Matt Henry blew away the famed Indian top-order, to leave them reeling for 43/4 at the end of 15 overs in the semifinal of the ICC World Cup 2019, at Old Trafford in Manchester.
Chasing 240 to win on the reserve day, India had a disastrous start. The tournament's top run scorer and opener Rohit Sharma (1) was gone in the second over of the Indian innings, nicking one to wicketkeeper Tom Latham off Henry.
Virat Kohli (1) was the next one to follow in the next over. Boult got one to swing in, catching the Indian skipper on the top of the knee-roll. Umpire Richard Illingworth had no hesitation in raising the finger, but Kohli reviewed it. Replays suggested that the ball would have just clipped the bails, and the third umpire ruled it as umpire's call.
K.L. Rahul (1), too, was out nicking the ball off Henry. He was caught in two minds—whether to leave or play—and Latham completed a good diving catch behind the wickets.
Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik played out a few watchful overs, with Karthik opening his account off the 21st ball he faced, with a boundary. Pant, on the other hand, seemed to be growing in confidence with time at the crease.
Karthik, however, did not last long, falling for six runs off 25 balls, to a brilliant one-handed catch by Jimmy Neesham off Henry.
Surprisingly, veteran Mahendra Singh Dhoni is yet to come out to bat, with Hardik Pandya coming out after Karthik's dismissal.
Pandya (9*) and Pant (20*) are at the crease.
Earlier, New Zealand batsmen were able to add only 28 runs in 23 balls to their overnight score, as Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah ended on a strong note.
Resuming play from 211/5 in 46.1 overs on the reserve day after rain halted play yesterday, overnight batsmen Taylor and Latham were unable to get the big shots away. Taylor fell on 74 to a brilliant direct-hit by Ravindra Jadeja, while going for a second run in the 48th over.
Latham (10) fell in the next over to Kumar, with Jadeja judging an overhead catch to perfection near the midwicket boundary. The Kiwi batsmen managed to hit only one four in the 23 balls they faced today.