How India's loss affects Australia

It only took one match in the Super 10 phase of the ICC World T20 to produce a major upset; New Zealand ambushing tournament hosts India to win by 47 runs in Nagpur.

Report & Highlights: NZ stun India in WT20 opener

The shock result could have dramatic ramifications for Australia, who begin their campaign against the Black Caps in Dharamshala on Friday.

While it's only one match, a lot can be taken out of New Zealand's stirring win and how it might affect their opponents in two days' time.

Two wins might be enough

As tournament favourites, India were expected to dominate at home and win all four of their matches, leaving the remaining four teams - Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Bangladesh - to battle for second spot.

In the last tournament in 2014, three wins were needed to advance to the semi-finals, but with the opening loss to MS Dhoni's men, Group 2 is now wide open.

There are no easy games and the group could easily finish with each team sporting two wins and two losses each, which would make Net Run Rate vitally important.

A big win or a big loss could be the difference from making the semi-finals or leaving the subcontinent early.

Spin to win

The nine wickets New Zealand took with spin – the equal-most in T20I cricket – bamboozled India and justified their gutsy decision to omit strike bowlers Tim Southee and Trent Boult.

Quick Single: NZ's bold strategy pays off

The slow Nagpur pitch gripped and bounced and made scoring extremely difficult, meaning 126 - incredibly - a winning total.

The wicket in Dharamshala was a slow turner in the qualifying stage, which means we could see the tweaking trio of Nathan McCullum, Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi in the Black Caps line-up again on Friday.

It also means we could see Australia adopt a similar ploy. Coach Darren Lehmann wrote in his latest blog for cricket.com.au that while the national selectors are close to deciding on their best XI, that outfit could change depending on the opposition and the playing conditions.

With spin likely to play big part in Friday's opening match, Australia could play spin twins Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar, with off-spinning allrounder Glenn Maxwell to chip in. That move would see Australia field the same type of spin attack as their trans-Tasman rivals; an off-spinner, a leg-spinner and a left-arm orthodox.

If Agar was to come in, it could well be at the expense of fast-bowling allrounder Mitchell Marsh. In Shane Watson and John Hastings, Australia have two right-arm fast medium bowlers, the same as Marsh, which might see the talented Western Australian be the one to make way if selectors decide to boost their spin stocks.

Batting reshuffle

Watson is a lock for one opening position, but his partner is still unknown.

With a rapid return to international cricket and a solid hit out in their warm-up loss to the West Indies in Kolkata, Aaron Finch is seen as the front-runner to face the new ball with Watson, edging out Usman Khawaja for the sole vacancy.

But that could change in order to combat New Zealand's triple spin threat, of which two tweakers spin the ball from leg to off, or away from the right-handed Finch's outside edge.

Khawaja, a left-hander, would have the benefit of the ball spinning back into him, and while McCullum's off-spinners and Sodhi's googly would challenge the elegant Australian's outside edge, neither spun as prodigiously as the leg-spinner's stock ball or Santner's left-armers.

It would also create the ideal right-hand, left-hand opening combination, and allow Steve Smith and David Warner float at No.3 depending on who is dismissed first.

Nevill's T20 test

Peter Nevill was chosen as a specialist wicketkeeper and his glovework is set for a thorough examination if the wickets continue to take turn and bounce unpredictably.

MS Dhoni and Luke Ronchi were superb behind the stumps on Tuesday night, but they had their hands full with deliveries that spun square, leaped off a length and beat the batsman's blade constantly.

Ronchi fumbled the stumping of Rohit Sharma, but fortunately for the Black Caps 'keeper, Sharma was too far down the pitch to recover in time.

It will be a huge test for Nevill, but that's why he was chosen.

Slow pitches, low scores

Nine times out of 10, a score of 126 on a flat wicket wouldn't win a T20 contest. But on a slow surface susceptible to spin, 126 looks more like 160 on a typically benign batting pitch that promotes big hits and free scoring.

In the four qualifying matches in Dharamshala that were unaffected by rain, the average score batting first was 161 with three scores in the 150s, while the average total batting first in Nagpur in the qualifiers was 151. 

If difficult batting conditions continue, who knows what - or how low - a competitive total is.