Guptill's 93 set it up for New Zealand, Scotland put up a great fight
New Zealand 172 for 5 (Guptill 93, Phillips 33, Sharif 28/2) beat Scotland 156 for 5 (Leask 42*, Boult 29/2) by 16 runs
New Zealand and Scotland went loggerheads in the 32nd game of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Whereas New Zealand defeated India by eight wickets on Sunday, due to the latter’s catastrophic batting failure on a slow pitch, Scotland lost against Namibia by four wickets in their previous group match.
This match got attention from the Indian team and fans as if the Scottish side managed to defeat New Zealand in this encounter, it would have put India in with an outside chance to qualify for the semi-final of the T20 World Cup.
Scotland skipper Kyle Coetzer won the toss and opted to field first.
Early wickets lost by Kiwi team
Daryl Mitchell and Martin Guptill opened for New Zealand. Guptill cracked a few boundaries early in the innings. However, his partner Mitchell got out leg before wicket by medium-pacer Safyaan Sharif on 13. In the same over, Sharif dismissed New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson for a duck which was a big blow for the Kiwi team. On the other end, Guptill played some graceful strokes to take his side over fifty in powerplay overs.
Guptill starts raining sixes
Youngster Devon Conway couldn’t hang around much and got out on just 1 by Mark Watt. Next batter Glenn Philips assisted Guptill to build a vital partnership. Guptill continued his assault on opponent bowlers and reached his fifty with an astronomical 102 meter six.
Guptill became a six-machine on Wednesday and smashed two mammoth sixes to Sharif in 16th over. He smoked another six to Evans over mid-wicket to reach near 90. Both Guptill and Philips added 105 runs for the fourth wicket.
In the penultimate over, Bradley Wheal dismissed Phillips on 33 and the next delivery he dismissed Guptill, as Calum MacLeod grabbed his catch at long-on. Guptill amassed 93 runs off just 56 balls studded with six boundaries and seven eye-catching sixes.
Next batters James Neesham and Mitchell Santner helped their side to a staggering total of 172.
Read More: ICC Men's T20 WC 2021 - IND vs NZ - Methodical NZ win by 8 wkts; WC journey all but over for India
Scotland get decent start
Scotland skipper Kyle Coetzer bestowed a flying start to his side’s innings by crashing two boundaries in the first over, bowled by right-arm pacer Trent Boult. However, Coetzer got out on just 17 as Tim Southee took his catch at mid-on.
One down batter Matthew Cross hammered five fours off five consecutive deliveries to collect 20 runs in the sixth over, bowled by speedster Adam Milne. His partner George Munsey clobbered two elephantine sixes to leggie Ish Sodhi but he got dismissed in the same over as Southee grabbed his catch at long-on. Cross also got clean bowled by Southee on 27 to leave the Scotland innings in trouble.
Michael Leask played quickfire knock in death overs but Scotland remain 17 runs short of target
Next batters Richie Berrington and Calum MacLeod tried to stitch a partnership. However, Boult shatters stumps of MacLeod, while he was going for a paddle-scoop.
With asking run-rate going sky-high, Scotland batters didn’t have an option but to go for big shots. Berrington miscue a shot against Santner and the ball went straight up in the air which was caught by wicketkeeper Conway.
Lower-order batter Michael Leask played some breathtaking shots in death overs, however, Scotland remained short of the target by 17 runs. Leask remained unbeaten on 42 runs off just 20 balls with the help of three boundaries and three sixes.
What Lies Ahead
Losing team Scotland will face India on upcoming Friday at Dubai in Super 12 group match, whereas New Zealand will play their next game against Namibia at Sharjah on the same day.
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