India vs New Zealand stats breakdown:Kiwis ahead in strike-rate, strong in powerplay; IND dominated in middle overs

The T20 World Cup began on February 7 among 20 teams. On March 5, the two finalist teams were confirmed, who will play in the championship match on March 8 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. New Zealand won the semi-final in Kolkata, and India won in Mumbai. Interestingly, both teams lost once against South Africa in Ahmedabad, and will now stake their claim for the title on the same ground. India has been the champion in 2007 and 2024, while the Kiwi team has reached the final only the second time after 2021. How IND NZ have performed so far? India’s only loss came in the Super-8 stage India started its T20 World Cup campaign with a match against America. After losing 4 wickets in the powerplay, captain Suryakumar Yadav scored 84 runs and took the team to a big total. The team then won easy matches against Namibia, Pakistan, and the Netherlands. The home team’s first match in the Super-8 stage was against South Africa in Ahmedabad. Despite losing wickets in the powerplay, the Proteas team scored 187 runs. India could only make 111. After this loss, India made a comeback by scoring 256 runs against Zimbabwe. The team then chased 197 runs against West Indies to secure a spot in the semi-finals. In the semi-final against England, India scored 253 runs, but this score also didn’t seem enough for a win. England’s young batter Jacob Bethell scored a century and brought the team close to victory. However, India won the high-scoring match by a narrow margin of 7 runs and entered the final. New Zealand lost to South Africa England New Zealand started the tournament by defeating Afghanistan in the group stage. The team then defeated UAE by 10 wickets. After playing both matches in Chennai, the team went to Ahmedabad to face South Africa, where the Proteas won the match by 8 wickets. New Zealand then defeated Canada in Chennai and entered the Super-8. In the second round, New Zealand’s first match against Pakistan was washed out due to rain. The team was then struggling against the home team Sri Lanka, in Colombo. After a poor performance in the powerplay and middle overs, the team scored 70 runs in the death overs to reach a total of 168 runs. Sri Lanka could only score 107 runs. After defeating the home team, the team lost its last Super-8 match against England. To reach the semi-finals, the team became dependent on Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan by 7 runs in their last match, and due to a better run rate, New Zealand qualified. In the semi-finals, the team chased South Africa’s target of 170 runs in just 12.5 overs. New Zealand’s strike rate better than India New Zealand played their matches in both host countries. Compared to India, scoring runs in Sri Lanka is difficult, yet the Kiwi team scored with a better run rate and strike rate than India. The Kiwi team’s batting average was also 41.68 compared to India’s 27.31. Only 2 New Zealand batters failed to open their account, while Indian batters failed to open their account 11 times in the tournament. Team India certainly surpassed New Zealand in hitting boundaries. India hit 88 sixes and 128 fours. The Kiwi team could only hit 57 sixes and 109 fours. India also scored 200 plus three times in the tournament, while the Kiwi team’s best score is only 183 runs. However, this score also came in a run chase. Indian spinners have been expensive New Zealand played 7 innings, in which the team got 41 wickets. 18 were taken by spinners and the rest by pacers. On the other hand, Team India took 59 wickets in 8 innings. 23 were taken by spinners and the rest by pacers. New Zealand’s spinners conceded runs at an economy of 7.5, while India’s spinners gave away runs at an economy of 8.3. Overall, New Zealand also performed better than India in terms of the economy. Team India is strong in middle overs Looking at batting in different phases, Team India lost 2 wickets on average while scoring 58 runs in the powerplay. However, the team has also scored 80 plus twice, but these scores were against Namibia and Zimbabwe. Between 7 and 16 overs, India was certainly strong; the team lost 3 wickets on average while scoring 93 runs. The team’s best score was 123 runs in the semi-final against England. Team India was weak in the death overs. The average score in the last 4 overs was only 44 runs. The team could only score 60-plus runs 3 times and never crossed the 70-run mark. New Zealand dominated in powerplay New Zealand got a strong start from the opening pair of Finn Allen and Tim Seifert. Chasing targets, both players often made fifty partnerships and finished the match in the middle overs. In the initial 6 overs, the team scored an average of 62 runs while losing 1 wicket. The team’s best score was 84 runs, which they made against South Africa in the semi-final. In the middle overs, New Zealand lost an average of 2 wickets, but the team’s average score could only reach 89. However, the team has scored 116 runs in this phase against Canada. In the death overs, New Zealand’s condition is even weaker than India’s, with the team’s average score being only 39 runs. However, the team got to bat in the last 4 overs only 4 times; on most occasions, the match ended before the 16th over. Samson in the race for Player of the Tournament Ishan Kishan, captain Suryakumar Yadav, and Sanju Samson have been the top-3 scorers for India. Ishan and Surya played 8 matches each, but Sanju scored 232 runs with 2 fifties in just 4 matches. ICC has also placed him in the race for Player of the Tournament. This is because Samson was the Player of the Match in both of India’s knockout matches. If he plays a match-winning innings in the final as well, he can win this award. Varun took 13 wickets, Bumrah’s economy is excellent In bowling, for India, mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy has taken 13 wickets in 8 matches. With one more wicket, he will become the tournament’s top wicket-taker. Varun took 9 wickets in 4 group stage matches, but in the subsequent 4 matches, he could only take 4 wickets. His economy was also very poor. In the semi-final, Varun conceded 64 runs in just 4 overs. Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya certainly kept the team in control with their economical bowling. Bumrah snatched 10 wickets with an economy of just 6.62. Meanwhile, Hardik took 8 wickets with an economy of less than 9. Allen and Seifert New Zealand’s top scorers Both New Zealand openers Finn Allen and Tim Seifert dominated the tournament. Allen scored a century off 33 balls in the semi-final, and is the third top scorer of the tournament with 289 runs. With 95 more runs, he could also become the top scorer. On the other hand, Seifert has scored 274 runs with 3 fifties. Rachin’s economy on par with Bumrah All-rounder Rachin Ravindra has contributed more with spin bowling than batting. He has taken 11 wickets in 8 matches, conceding runs at an economy of just 6.88. Matt Henry, who took 2 crucial wickets in the semi-final, also has 9 wickets to his name. Mitchell Santner and Lockie Ferguson have also supported both bowlers well. India’s strength and weakness New Zealand’s strength and weakness