Samra's ton in vain as Phillips, Ravindra guide Kiwis home
CHENNAI: Yuvraj Samra's historic ton for Canada went in vain as New Zealand banked on their experience to beat their opponents by eight wickets in the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday.
With this win, the Kiwis qualify to the Super 8 stages of the tournament, joining South Africa, West Indies, England, Sri Lanka and India.
In the chase, New Zealand faced a brief hiccup after their explosive duo of Tim Seifert and Finn Allen were sent back in quick succession. Rachin Ravindra, coming on the back of a rough patch in this format and Glenn Phillips, built a solid partnership to guide the Kiwis home
Both Phillips and Ravindra were calm and went about the task in a professional manner, Phillips' six off Ansh Patel over long off where the ball was lofted with precision had grace written all over it. By 13 overs the pair took the score from 30 for 2 to 148 for two and put New Zealand on the path of victory.
Daryl Mitchell, New Zealand's stand-in captain was pleased with his team's effort and gave an update on Mitchell Santner's health.
"He's (Santner) obviously felt a bit poor, but he seems to be improving as the day goes on. But yeah, I think he'll be fine for the next one, I'm sure."
For Canada, they will be kicking themselves after putting such a brilliant display with the bat. After Samra's century, Canada could not cause damage with the ball. In fact, they were counterproductive to their cause. Out of the 14 extras that they bowled, 11 of them came from wides.
This helped New Zealand ease the pressure in their chase, especially after losing two big wickets.
"Oh, we back everyone in the side. We obviously got the 'Bash Brothers' up top who do their thing. It's the nature of, I guess, how we try to line up with our team is that we know we bat really deep and everyone can get the job done on the day," said Mitchell.
Unstoppable Yuvraj
Earlier, teenager Yuvraj who opened with captain Dilpreet Bajwa was the better of the duo. His timing was precise, footwork adequate, bat swing efficient and the best thing about his game was shot selection which was spot on.
He used the pace of the Kiwi fast bowlers be it Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy or Kyle Jamieson to score runs effortlessly with his upper cuts and pull shots.
Against the spinners, he used his feet well to score boundaries by picking the gaps or lofting the ball beyond the 15-yard-circle where no fielder was posted to score boundaries.
The 19-year-old Samra showed his class by twice with his sense of timing by lofting spinner Cole McConchie over the bowler's head right.
Daryl Mitchell the stand-in captain of New Zealand shuffled his bowlers and tried to break the opening stand of Canada but went fruitless. Both Yuvraj and Dilpreet were resolute in their plans to give their side a rollicking start and were successful.
Then, Samra on 98, scored a boundary off Kyle Jamieson to register his first T20 international century in just 58 balls with the crowd applauding his feat. He is also the youngest to score a World Cup T20 hundred.
"Honestly, I manifested this moment ever since we qualified for the World Cup. Every single day, I dreamed about scoring a hundred on this stage. To do it here, in my first appearance, and as the youngest player in this World Cup - it's truly a dream come true. It feels incredible," Samra said on his hundred.
Bajwa, who was at the other end, believed that 173 was a good total and felt that they were a bowler short in Kaleem Sana.
"We were a bit confident. Of course, we were one bowler short with Sana missing out, and that did affect our balance a little bit. But we felt the pitch was offering something - when our spinners came on, the ball was turning. So at the halfway stage, we believed 173 was a competitive total. Unfortunately, being one bowler short made things tougher in the end," said Bajwa.
'Samra ton a proud moment for Canada says skipper
Bajwa told broadcasters that he is proud of Samra's ton.
"I think in the last couple of games, our top order was struggling. We were losing four or five wickets inside the powerplay, so this time the plan was simple: take the game deep and maximise the powerplay without taking unnecessary risks. Full credit to Yuvraj, the youngest player in this World Cup - to score a hundred in a match like this is special. It's a very proud moment for him and for the whole team. And I think it's a proud moment for all Canadians to see a 100-run opening partnership against one of the best teams in the world," complimented Bajwa.