CWC 2023, Semi-Final 1, India vs New Zealand: Virat Kohli's 117, Shreyas Iyer's 105 and Daryl Mitchell's 134 are top performances. India beat New Zealand and advance to Finals.
Brief Scores: IND 397/4 (Kohli 117, Iyer 105, Southee 3/100) beat NZ 327 (Mitchell 134, Willamson 69, Shami 7/57) by 70 runs.
Player of the match: Mohammad Shami (7/57)
Virat Kohli marked the semifinal day with a special 50th ODI century. Daryl Mitchell’s superb knock kept them in the chase for a long time, but Mohammad Shami’s excellent spell was too good to counter for the opponents.
Unbeaten India came into the tournament on the back of nine consecutive victories. New Zealand slipped during the middle phase of the competition but made it into the knockout stage with a thumping win. Both teams locked horns at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
NZ have won five out of 10 WC encounters against India, with one game getting washed out. They broke many Indian hearts with their win during the 2019 World Cup semifinal.
Talking point: Shami turned the game in India’s court with 7/57
Mohammed Shami is one of India's biggest weapons in this tournament, especially with the ball. He has been excellent in giving them breakthroughs in all the phases. And on a vital semifinal game, his figures of 7-57 gave India passage to their fourth World Cup Final.
Read More: CWC 2023, IND vs NED: Rahul scores fastest WC hundred for India to cap unbeaten league phase run
India advanced to a deserved final with 70 run victory
India captain Rohit Sharma, on winning the toss, opted to bat first on a slow surface that was expected to turn later. Both teams went with an unchanged playing eleven.
India went off to a flying start thanks to Rohit’s 29-ball 47, to reach 118/1 in 15 overs. The 163-run second wicket stand between Kohli and Iyer fired them to 327/2 in 44 overs. Kl Rahul, at the backend of the innings, whacked an unbeaten 20-ball 39-run knock to propel India to 397/4 in their allotted 50 overs.
NZ didn’t start well to reach 39/2, but the 181-run third wicket stand progressed them to 220/4 in 33 overs. Shami came back to break the stand. Mitchell tried with his 134 knocks, but India’s supreme death over bowling restricted them to 327 to gain a 70-run win.
Top performances from the India vs New Zealand game in CWC 2023:
Kohli edges past Tendulkar with 50th ODI century
The talk of the town for Virat Kohli coming into this game was when he would go past his idol Sachin Tendulkar’s 49th century.
He drove Rachin Ravindra through covers for a boundary before clubbing Mitchell Santner wide of mid-wicket over another four. He reached his first ODI WC knockout fifty in just 59 balls. Using his feet, he flicked Tim Southee over mid-wicket for a six after punching Trent Boult through mid-wicket for another boundary.
In between all these shots, he was taking those lightning-fast singles and doubles. With two quick runs, Kohli sat on his knees to soak the applause as he celebrated his 50th ODI century in 106 balls. He was finally dismissed on 117 in 113 balls, shouldering on nine fours and a couple of sixes to have 13794 ODI runs in 279 innings.
Shreyas burst firecrackers with a 70-ball 105-run knock
Shreyas Iyer came into this game with a century on his back against the Netherlands. He began on this afternoon from where he finished. Iyer smashed Ravindra straight down the ground for a six before driving him through covers for a four.
A mistimed shot against Southee gave him another six in wide of long-on, as he sent Glenn Phillips over long-on for another over boundary. With another six against Boult, Iyer reached his fifty in 33 balls. After putting Ravindra in the long-on stand for a six, Iyer cracked him for two more sixes.
With a single, Iyer reached his fifth ODI hundred in 67 balls. He returned to the pavilion on 105 in 70 deliveries, with the help of four boundaries and eight sixes, to have 2327 ODI runs in 57 games.
Read More: CWC 2023, IND vs SA: Kohli equals Sachin's 49 ODI centuries; India complete biggest win over SA
Mitchell kept NZ in the chase with 134 run knock
Daryl Mitchell has been in good form throughout this tournament, and with his brilliant performance, he kept them in the chase. He cracked Ravindra Jadeja over long-on for a six, besides punishing him in the same spot for the same result.
He brought up his sixth ODI hundred and second of the WC. He made 134 in 119 balls with nine fours and seven sixes to have 1577 ODI runs in 39 games.
Read More: CWC 2023, IND vs NZ: Shami takes fifer, Kohli scores 95 to execute another successful chase
Statistical highlights from India vs New Zealand, Mumbai, CWC 2023
Virat Kohli goes past Ricky Ponting as the third-highest ODI run scorer with 13794 runs and becomes the first batter with 50 ODI centuries going past Tendulkar (49).
Kohli became the highest run-getter in a single World Cup edition with 711 runs, beating Tendulkar’s 673 in 2003.
The 163-run second wicket stand between Shreyas Iyer and Kohli is India’s highest partnership for any wicket against NZ in WCs.
Rohit Sharma is now the leading six-hitter in ODI WCs with 51 sixes, going past Chris Gayle (49).
Kohli has now eight 50+ scores in a single WC edition, going over Tendulkar (7).
Batting at number 4 or lower in ODI WCs, Iyer now has the most runs (526), going past Scoot Styris (499).
India registered the highest team total (397/4) in the knockout phase of ODI WC.
Ravindra equals Williamson with 578 runs for the most WC runs in a single WC edition for NZ.
More than 600 sixes have been hit in this season of the WC.
Shami becomes the fastest (19 innings) to pick 50 ODI WC wickets.
Williamson-Mitchell’s 182-run stand is the highest third-wicket for NZ against India in ODIs.
Shami registers India’s best bowling figures in ODI (7/57).
What’s to come
After two missed chances, India finally advanced to the final, as NZ missed out on the third consecutive WC final.
South Africa will take on Australia in the second semifinal on November 16 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
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