Lockie Ferguson (3/0) etched his name in history for having the most economical spell in T20I history when New Zealand conducted their World Cup campaign with a powerful seven-wicket victory over Papua New Guinea on Monday.
Ferguson bowled exceptionally well and produced a 4-4-0-3 spell to help New Zealand bowl out PNG for merely 78 balls in 19.4 overs. New Zealand reached the target within just 12.2 overs by scoring 79-3 with 46 balls remaining.
In the process, Ferguson became only the second bowler in the history of T20I cricket to bowl all four of his overs in the match without conceding a run, equalling Canada captain Saad Bin Zafar, who did at least take more wickets, claiming 4-.
New Zealand cruised to victories, first to Oman by nine wickets and later to PNG in the group stage. However, they lost to Afghanistan by 84 runs and co-hosts West Indies by 13 runs, thus making this one of the earliest exits in T20 World Cup history.
PNG, like Oman, also in Group B, lost all four of their matches for Group C, failing against a superb Kiwi bowling attack. Headed by Ferguson, Fiji was the also-ran.
PNG, to their credit, may have lost, but they made the Kiwis work hard for the win. Kabua Morea bowled Finn Allen for (0) to the second ball of the chase and then got that of Rachin Ravindra's (6) in the third over.
Devon Conway played a crucial knock with the bat, having smashed three maximums and a couple of boundaries during his 32-ball 35, which laid the platform for BlackCaps. Skipper Kane Williamson made 18 and Daryl Mitchell 19 to ensure they downed the minnows without much fuss.
PNG, to a great extent, found themselves on the ropes towards the finish of the innings courtesy of Ferguson's brilliant spell, which saw them unable to score more in the death. The Kiwis contained the PNG batters, with only four boundaries being scored in the first half of the innings.
Last T20 World Cup for Trent Boult – 2/14 – started with a tight over of two runs. Tim Southee – 2/11 – got the first wicket, having PNG opener Tony Ura caught at deep backward point. While Boult failed to pick up a new-ball wicket, Ferguson did exactly that with his very first delivery, removing PNG captain Assad Vala for six.
Then, Ferguson proceeded on his show of dominance in the attack, leaving PNG still searching for runs off his first 3 overs. He trapped Charles Amini, for 17, in front for his third victim. Mitchell Santner returned fine figures of 1 for 17 and ended Sese Bau's innings on 12 by luring him into a mistimed stroke, caught at long on by Finn Allen.
Ferguson's spell ended with no runs against his name; he matched Zafar's record of four maidens. Boult returned to clean up Hiri Hiri on 7, while Southee dismissed Kiplin Doriga for 5 a little later. Ish Sodhi (2/29) completed the rout when he took two wickets in the last over of the match.
New Zealand convincingly proved their might even as they exited early from the tournament.
