AHMEDABAD, March 8 : New Zealand paid the price for their poor performance in both powerplays in Sunday’s Twenty20 World Cup final against India, captain Mitchell Santner said.
New Zealand lost to India by 96 runs to prolong their wait for a maiden white-ball World Cup title.
“They showed their class again tonight with that batting performance,” Santner told reporters.
“That was the tale of the day – the two powerplays. I think we were three for 40-odd and they were 90-odd for none.”
Put in to bat, India’s openers Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma provided an explosive push and rattled up 92 runs in the six powerplay overs.
In contrast, New Zealand’s top-order slipped to 52-3 inside six overs, and the chase never quite took off.
“We all know we weren’t at our best tonight, and if you’re not at your best against a very good team in a final, you get exposed,” Santner said.
Santner felt there were brief periods when New Zealand slowed the scoring by leaning on yorkers and short balls through the middle.
James Neesham picked up three wickets in the 16th over but the damage was done early on.
“Whether it was to be braver with yorkers or bouncers, we tried a lot of cutters into the wicket that weren’t offering much,” Santner said.
With the bat, Santner said the chase was always likely to ride on surviving the first six overs and keeping wickets for a surge later, which did not happen.
“You’re not going to win a chase in the powerplay, but you can lose one,” he said.
“If we pick up a couple early and squeeze the middle, maybe 220 is on. At 250, you need a lot to go your way.”
The captain acknowledged India’s weight of expectation at home and praised the hosts’ execution.
“There was definitely a lot of pressure on India in front of so many people, and they did it outstandingly well,” he said.
