London: New Zealand opener Martin Guptill said that his game-changing run out of M.S. Dhoni during their 18-run semifinal victory over India was a “lucky” one.
“I didn’t think the ball was coming to me, but yeah I tried and got there as quickly as I could. Lucky enough to get a direct hit from there and lucky for us as well,” Guptill was quoted as saying by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on its Twitter handle.
In the first semifinal which was played over two days due to rain in Manchester, India restricted the Black Caps to 239/8 in 50 overs. But chasing the modest 240 for a place in the final, India were blown away by the Kiwi bowlers led by Matt Henry (3/37) on the reserve day.
India lost four top order batsmen for just 24 runs inside 10 overs before Ravindra Jadeja (77) and Dhoni (50) shared a 116-run seventh wicket stand to raise hopes of an unlikely victory. However, it wasn’t enough in the end as India fell short by 18 runs.
After Jadeja got out, Dhoni was looking to change gears but in the 49th over, Guptill effected a brilliant direct hit to run the former India captain out and dash India’s slim hopes.
New Zealand, who reached their second consecutive final, will take on hosts England in the summit clash at Lords’s on Sunday.
Meanwhile, ICC’s Twitter post saying “Hasta la vista (goodbye in Spanish), Dhoni” after the iconic stumper batsman got out did not go down well with the Indian fans who slammed the apex cricket body on social media.
