India's over-reliance on the top three was their downfall as they went down fighting against New Zealand in the semi-final here at Old Trafford on Wednesday
Trent Boult
Manchester: 111 is the medical emergency number here in the United Kingdom. But when India dialed 1-1-1 [the scores of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli] it wasn't for medical help, but to avert a disaster. India's over-reliance on the top three was their downfall as they went down fighting against New Zealand in the semi-final here at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
New Zealand pacers Trent Boult and Matt Henry made full use of the moisture on the pitch and with a bit of cloud cover when play resumed the next day, India's top order batsmen faced the music.
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'Dream start'
In quick time, India were reduced to 5 for 3, chasing 240 to progress to the final. They eventually fell short by 18 runs. Boult, who got the Indian skipper for one, called it 'mayhem'. "It was a dream start for us and great fun to be a part of," said Boult, who has taken 17 wickets in 10 matches.
Boult revealed that the plan was to pitch the ball up. "We were targeting early wickets and put pressure on everyone else. The plan was to pitch the ball up and get the ball moving. It was a thrilling moment. We knew our best balls are good enough for anyone, so it was nice to get the ball moving around and really put the pressure on them.
"We didn't know whether 240 was a good score or not unless both sides bat on the pitch. We know we had to keep their side one or two wickets down in the Powerplay and that would make the difference. It was nice to make the most of the conditions," said the Kiwi pacer before lauding the way MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja absorbed the pressure.
Player of the Match, Henry, who finished with 3-37, said they looked to contain the Indian batsmen and build pressure to get wickets. But he was glad it happened the other way round.
"We knew it was important to start well. We had our plans to keep pushing forward with slips in place. We wanted to make sure there weren't too many runs on the board [from the Indian top order]. We wanted to create pressure that way and then wickets would come. But thankfully, it happened the other way. We got the wickets first and from there it was a matter of squeezing them after that. We tried to keep up the asking rate towards the end and create pressure," he said.
Pressure tactics
"We put a lot of pressure early on and made the total look defendable. It allowed us to be in a good position. We wanted to get on top and put them under pressure. India have a
world-class batting line-up and to break that opening partnership was huge," added Henry.
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