IND vs NZ: "If You Want To Defeat India, You Must Make Early Breakthroughs": Stephen Fleming Recounts New Zealand's World Cup Victory In 2019

Former batsman Stephen Fleming reminisced on New Zealand’s historic victory over India in the 2019 World Cup semi-final at Manchester’s Old Trafford.

The Black Caps, headed by Kane Williamson, won the game by 18 runs and went on to win the mega-event in back-to-back finals.

Due to unfavourable weather on the first day, the match had to be postponed to the next day. The Kiwi bowlers, on the other hand, started off on fire and bowled the Men in Blue out for 92 runs in 30.3 overs for the loss of six wickets.

“I do believe it provided us with an opportunity to reassemble, and the weather the following day was similarly favourable. They didn’t exactly make things obvious. The bowlers were still in a favourable situation. New Zealand made the most of their time off by being clear about what they intended to do,” Stephen Fleming was quoted as saying to ESPNcricinfo.

“This was a big moment in the history of New Zealand cricket”: Stephen Fleming

Matt Henry and Trent Boult impacted negatively on India’s top order, eliminating Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, and Dinesh Karthik for cheap. Fleming stated that taking early wickets is a step in defeating India.

Despite their Herculean efforts, MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja only put on 116 runs for the loss of seven wickets.

“It was instrumental; it had to happen at the top. If you want to beat India, you have to make early inroads,” Stephen Fleming stated.

“This was a big moment in the history of New Zealand cricket. To be able to get to the final by beating the Indian side was a big moment in our ODI cricket” Stephen Fleming Added.

Three T20Is and as many T20Is between India and New Zealand are slated to begin on Friday, November 18.

“India is usually the favourite when they play New Zealand, you might say. The only thing is that seam bowlers will be useful in these circumstances,” Fleming continued.