India vs New Zealand, ICC World Cup 2023 1st semi-final: Team India continued its dominance in the ICC World Cup 2023 as the Men in Blue became the first finalist of the tournament. India successfully took revenge for the defeat it faced in the ICC World Cup 2019 against the Kiwis as the team defeated New Zealand by 70 runs. Rohit Sharma will now meet the winner of the 2nd semi-final at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on 19 November for the finals of ICC World Cup 2023.
India’s star Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer slammed their respective centuries to take India towards the high score of 397/4 after 50 overs. Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and KL Rahul also shined in India’s high-scoring batting campaign. New Zealand also did well with the bat and showed the fighting spirit with the match looking difficult for India at one point.
But, Indian pacer Mohammed Shami shined again as he clinched 7 wickets to derail New Zealand’s batting and break some crucial partnerships.
India vs New Zealand: Team India’s innings
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma continued on his attacking note and started well against New Zealand. The Indian openers played well against the New Zealand pacers with the new ball, but as Rohit Sharma (47) came very close to his 50, Tim Southee dismissed the Indian skipper. While walking back to the pavilion, Rohit Sharma shared something with Virat Kohli and the Indian star used it well to punish New Zealand bowlers.
Shubman Gill played brilliantly well and slammed his half-century, but felt some discomfort due to the cramps. As the problem grew, Rohit Sharma asked the batter to come back to the dressing room as he didn’t wanted Shubman Gill to give his wicket. Shreyas Iyer entered the ground with the confidence of a century in the previous match and played in a similar fashion.
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Virat Kohli (117) and Shreyas Iyer (105) played in a wonderful partnership and both batters slammed their respective centuries. This was the record-breaking innings by Virat Kohli, who surpassed Sachin Tendulkar’s record and slammed 50 centuries in ODI cricket. KL Rahul (39*) and Shubman Gill (80*) ensured that India finished well on the score of 397/4 after 50 overs.
India vs New Zealand: Team New Zealand’s innings
Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra started well against India and got some boundaries in the early overs of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. As the openers got settled, Rohit Sharma decided to change the bowling and bring in star pacer Mohammed Shami, who dismissed Devon Conway (13) on his first ball. New Zealand was still recovering from the wicket when Mohammed Shami struck again to dismiss Rachin Ravindra (13).
Then a tough phase began for India as Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell played in a beautiful 181-run partnership. Indian bowlers were desperately chasing wickets, but New Zealand batters kept slamming boundaries, and the high runs of India were not looking that strong now. Rohit Sharma again introduced Mohammed Shami who clinched 2 consecutive wickets as he dismissed Kane Williamson (69) and Tom Latham (0).
Glenn Phillips came on strike with a clear role to support Daryl Mitchell and take the team towards the target. Phillips (41) slammed some boundaries to provide some chills to Indian fans, but Jasprit Bumrah didn’t let him do much as he dismissed him soon. Spinners were not very successful today, but Kuldeep Yadav didn’t fail to leave the spin mark as he dismissed Mark Chapman (2).
The game was moving away from New Zealand’s hand, but Daryl Mitchell (134) was standing strong on the crease, still slamming some boundaries to keep the Kiwi’s hope alive. He again tried a big shot, but this time it was against Mohammed Shami and the ball went straight into the hands of Ravindra Jadeja.