Newzealand beats India to enter into final

India didn’t play badly, just unintelligently. Two terrific deliveries removed the two best batsman (Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli), and the match was effectively over in the first half a dozen overs.

Yet, India did well to stay in the game till the 48th over when Ravindra finally succumbed. A largely defensive Dhoni was brilliantly run out in the next.

Dhoni made 32 (off 45 balls) in the 116-run partnership with Jadeja (77 off 59), but it involved 20 dot balls and the occasional Test-match style leave outside the off stump. It is doubtful if he could have carried India through when they needed 37 from the last three overs.

This was a match that New Zealand won, not one that India lost.

Teams that win World Cups grow through the course of the tournament. Somehow India didn’t seem to.