How New Zealand lost the Powerplay and the final

It is standard in T20 cricket to begin with third man and fine leg as the two fielders outside the circle, as edges often travel fine behind the wicket. On slower pitches, they can carry squarer, which is why Pat Cummins had a deep point for Rohit Sharma from the first ball of the 2023 ODI World Cup final in Ahmedabad.

This was another World Cup final at the same venue, but on a different surface—a mixed-soil pitch with more bounce than the slow track from three years ago. New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner had described it as "pretty flat and high scoring" the evening before. Accordingly, he began with conventional Powerplay field placements: third man and fine leg in place as Matt Henry, his best bowler, took the new ball.

Santner anticipated India's aggressive approach in the early overs, as they had shown throughout the bilateral series and the World Cup. However, the Powerplay passed too quickly for New Zealand. India's openers raced to 92 without loss in the first six overs, and the damage was done before the field could spread.

"Credit to Sanju and Abhishek at the top to get 90 [92] off the Powerplay," Santner said later. "It is pretty tough from there to come back. It was a pretty good wicket throughout. There wasn't much for the bowlers—the cutters weren't really holding, not much spin. If we could have got a couple in the Powerplay, squeeze them a little bit through the middle, 220 could have been chased down on a very good wicket."

India's explosive start proved decisive. While their batting quality was undeniable, New Zealand's series of small decisions widened the gap early, forcing them into a chase much sooner than Santner would have liked after choosing to bowl.

Matt Henry's opening over began with four dot balls before Sanju Samson broke free, flat-batting a short ball over long-on. This shot signaled the pitch's true nature, reminiscent of the recent bilateral series. New Zealand's response was to seek variation: across the five overs of pace they bowled in the Powerplay, nearly every third delivery was a slower ball.

The plan was to take pace off and bowl wide outside off, with point and deep point set. But execution faltered—lengths drifted too full or too short. Only eight balls landed in the good length area, conceding just 12 runs.

"There wasn't a lot of seam or swing to start, so the bowlers are trying to get out of the hitting arc," Santner explained. "We know how good Sanju, Abhishek, and Kishan are at hitting all over the wicket. There's no perfect plan when guys are going like that. We tried the wide stuff, two on the leg side—we tried everything. Credit has to go to the way they set that Powerplay up."

By the time Henry returned, India had raced to 51 in four overs. Santner had used four different bowlers in the first four overs, meaning Henry—New Zealand's most reliable seamer—bowled only one over at the start. Glenn Phillips, their sole offspin option, bowled just once in the Powerplay, conceding only five runs.

"I think the way they played the over, Abhishek played that very smart," Santner noted. "He gave it over to Sanju. The first three overs are when the ball is doing its most, and then you can capitalize on the last three of the Powerplay like they did. If Sanju got out, it would have been another option for GP to bowl to the two left-handers. But when you're not taking wickets, it's always a challenge."

Santner summarized: "I think the tale of the day was the two Powerplays. They were 90 for none and we were three for 40."

Chasing 256 against a team already in control is difficult; against India, the world's best T20 side, the margin for error shrinks further.

"When you come up against a very good team in a final, you always want to do well," Santner reflected. "We all know we weren't at our best tonight, and if you aren't at your best against a very good team you're going to be exposed. We can look at some options with the ball and with the bat and reflect. You have to be going pretty well against India in a final."

Those first six overs tilted the final. Santner read the pitch correctly and anticipated India's intent, but he could not afford to let them dominate the phase entirely. Once they did, the final began to slip away.