Follow UsIndia extended their dominance in this World Cup on Sunday in Dharamshala by overcoming a red-hot New Zealand side in a closely-fought contest, but while the Men in Blue were exceptional with both bat and ball, they were a bit sloppy on the field.
Rohit Sharma’s men entered Sunday’s clash with the best catching efficiency amongst all sides (82.6 %) but, on the day, were uncharacteristically poor, as they spilled a couple of straightforward chances. Unbelievably enough, one catch was put down by the ever-reliable Ravindra Jadeja, widely regarded as the best fielder in the world.
New Zealand, in a way, made India pay for the errors by posting a challenging total, but ultimately, the Men in Blue were able to overcome their own sloppiness.
It was a far from perfect display on the field but in the aftermath of the contest, skipper Rohit asserted that there’s little cause for concern.
“Fielding is something we pride ourselves on. It wasn't as clinical as we'd like to,” Rohit said at the post match presentation.
“Couple of dropped catches but those guys are good. Ravindra Jadeja is one of the best fielders in the world. These things happen. We know that fielding is something that will decide a lot of things going forward.”
Fielding was the only complaint on the day for India, who were otherwise clinical as ever. They missed Hardik Pandya in this clash but Mohammed Shami, who replaced Shardul Thakur in the XI to bolster the seam attack, made his mark as he took a sensational five-fer that played a big part in restricting New Zealand under 280.
Rohit was full of praise for the veteran, who he stated is ‘full of class’.
“Shami took the opportunity with both hands. He has the experience in these conditions and is a class bowler. At one stage, we were looking at 300 plus. Credit to our bowlers at the back end.”
Rohit also claimed that, at this point, he is really enjoying his batting. For the fourth game running, the skipper got the team off to a flier in the powerplay. Rohit (46) perished four shy of his fifty but the damage was done as by the 11th over, India had raced to the 70-run mark.
“I am enjoying my batting,” Rohit said,
Me and Gill are both different personalities but we compliment each other. Happy that we won although I didn’t contribute as much as I would have liked.”
Rohit’s cameo set the chase up for India, and the game was finished by the chase-master Virat Kohli, who brought up his fourth fifty of the World Cup. Kohli (95) fell agonizingly short of his ton but his knock ensured that India made it five in five in this World Cup.
“Nothing much to say about Virat. We've seen him do this for so many years,” Rohit said of Kohli.
“He backs himself to do the job. Towards the end there was a bit of pressure with a few wickets lost, but Kohli and Jadeja took us home.”
With the victory, India, who are now top of the table, have one foot in the semi-final. They only need to win one of their remaining four encounters to seal a spot in the knockouts. The Men in Blue have a week off before their next clash against England in Lucknow.