T20 World Cup 2021: Match 32, New Zealand vs Scotland – Who Said What

New Zealand secured another two points by defeating Scotland by 16 runs in Dubai on November 3. Scotland managed to run them close, leading the chase well before being tied down in the middle-overs to leave a little too much to chase in the end.

After being put in on a fresh track, New Zealand managed to post a competitive 172/5 thanks to Martin Guptill’s maniac knock of 93 off just 56, laced with six fours and seven sixes. Scotland undoubtedly punched above their weight to not let New Zealand score as freely as they would have expected to, with no other batter barring Guptill managing to leave an impression.

Safyaan Sharif was the pick of the bowlers for Scotland, pegging back the Kiwis with a double blow inside the powerplay when he accounted for both Daryl Mitchell and Kane Williamson in the same over – Mitchell was trapped lbw, while Williamson edged him behind for walk for a four-ball duck.

New Zealand were reduced to 52/3 when Mark Watt (1/13) had Devon Conway caught behind. From there, Glenn Phillips, who scored a sedate 33 off 37, played the second fiddle to Guptill.  Despite the Guptill-infused momentum, Scotland made their way back towards the fag end of the innings, giving away only 22 runs in the final three overs. Brad Wheal returned with figures of 2/40, while Alasdair Evans, who came in for the injured Josh Davey, endured a forgettable outing, as he bore Guptill’s assault, leaking 48 in a wicketless spell

Scotland made a rollicking start to the chase, racing to 48/1 in the powerplay, including Adam Milne’s 20-run over when Matthew Cross (27 off 29) picked five successive fours off him. Kyle Coetzer, making his comeback after recovering from his finger injury, perished Trent Boult for 17 off 11 as the only powerplay wicket while George Munsey got himself a start too, hitting a couple of sixes in his 18-ball 22 before becoming Ish Sodhi’s prey.

After a quick-fire start, Scotland could only manage 20 in the five-over period between 9-13 as New Zealand got themselves back in the hunt. Despite that, Michael Leask threatened them with a brisk 42-run knock off just 20 balls, with three sixes and as many fours but others around him just did not step up. Sodhi was expensive, giving away 42 thanks to Leask’s attack, but struck to get his second wicket in Richard Berrington, while Boult cleaned up Callum Macleod.

Losing skipper Kyle Coetzer:

We will have to go back and look at those opportunities that we couldn’t take, the next little step and keep them under pressure. We picked up a couple of quick wickets at the back end of the powerplay. Maybe that’s something we need to look at. They controlled the innings well, Martin Guptill played an outstanding knock. This is the best pitch we have played on thus far. If you restricted another 10 runs, the game could have been different. Often I don’t like to keep bowlers bowling more than 2 overs in T20 cricket. It’s about trying to change the pace and try and not let the batter to settle against set bowlers. That was the idea there to chop and change as much as you can. Mark Watt was excellent again today. Greaves was unlucky. There were opportunities. We need to look back at those. Mark is very confident at the moment. Trusts himself to use the crease, the depth, the angles. He backs himself to nail any of the deliveries he is looking to bowl. This is our best performance in the Super 12, but we have to go back and see. We were actually a couple of runs ahead of NZ at the 10-over mark. We have to try and extend the game. Leask got us close. Ultimately we left that gap too big.

Winning skipper Kane Williamson:

We certainly knew coming into this tournament that there were match winners all around. It ebbed and flowed and we got a good first innings total. We were patchy with the ball but we need to move on. Credit to Scotland for the way they played and hit the ball out of the park.We were tested and we need to learn from this. Guptill is a power player. He is hitting the ball beautifully. We really needed his innings. Also Glenn Phillips, and that partnership was necessary to get us to a good total. A quick turnaround now, recover as quickly as possible for the next challenge. There are always things to work on, and there are definitely a few things we want to touch on. We need to adjust quickly to surfaces. It was a hard fought match. We will go to Sharjah and take it from there. Every game is valuable and we know we try and prepare as well as possible for all of them. The next game is the only game that matters. For us it is all about playing the cricket we want to play and stay committed to that.

Player of the Match Martin Guptill:

[On him tiring during batting] We have a day off tomorrow, so I won’t be doing much then. We didn’t have a great start. It wasn’t a rescue mission, but Glenn and I had to assess. I have played a lot of cricket with him, and we have put up a lot of partnerships for Auckland. A few missed balls and we were able to get them away and get some momentum. Not ideal with the running, but we got there in the end. Afghanistan are a great side and we can’t take them lightly.