What a game we witnessed in Wankhede!!!. The records tumbled and heroes were made in a fitting semifinal and a deserved winner as India defeated New Zealand by 70 runs in the semifinal of the CWC23. India will now face the winner of the Australia vs South Africa in the final.
The day started well for the hosts as they won the toss and elected to bat first on a slow surface. Both teams were unchanged from the previous matches. Before the start of the innings there were a lot of questions about the Indian team approach.
Will India play with the attacking approach as it did in the group stages or will adopt a conservative style? Will Rohit Sharma come with all guns blazing for the big knockout game or does he go back to his old template? All those speculations were cleared as Rohit stands on one leg and flicks the 3rd ball of the innings just above midwicket for four. Rohit was in ominous touch as India raced to 50 in just 5.2 overs.
The Kiwis attacked Rohit with short ball and Rohit accepted them gleefully and deposited them in the stands. There was no swing on offer for the bowlers and the odd ball was just holding on. At the other end Gill too looked in good touch, he played second fiddle with Rohit and after the latter got out, he became the aggressor and kept the scoring rate up.
The Batters were hardly untroubled by bowlers they were happy to defend the good balls and pounce on the bad ones. Before leaving the field with cramps. The Kiwis attacked Kohli with packed offside field with spinners operating from both ends. He was itchy at the start but then got into his work soon.
One thing was visible the attacking intent with calculative risks. Every batsman coming out to bat had known his role and played the best of it. The role clarity given the freedom and backing up from team has got the best out of the individuals. It didn’t matter who came into bat as everyone got into their work and were at absolute best. They were helped by some poor bowling by the Kiwis as they were not at their usual best.
But the highlight of the innings has to be Virat Kohli reaching his 50th century in One day Cricket. The moment came in the 42nd over of the innings. He flicked one to the leg side completed the single and came back for the second with his arms aloft with joy and pride as he was on his knees. He got up raised his arms and bowed down to the God Sachin Tendulkar who was watching him from the Stands and some flying kisses to his wife Anushka.
Soon Shreyas finished his century off just 67 balls, the fastest in World Cup Knock-out game as he also smashed the highest sixes by an Indian batsman in a World Cup Innings. And the final touches were given KL as India post a mammoth total of 397 in the first innings. It was up to the bowlers now.
The Kiwis and Conway started their innings with four off the first ball of their innings. The ball was moving around with a lot of swing available for the batsmen. Indian new ball bowlers looked off color and didn’t hit the desired spots. It was Mohammed Shami again with the wicket off the first ball of his spell broke the opening stand and soon got Rachin as he sent both the openers back in hut.
But Williamson and Mitchell put up a fight with a 181-run stand as they brought New Zealand right back into the game. The duo took their time at the start and then didn’t let the bowlers settle by scoring some quick runs. They were as helped as India were sloppy on the field and also gave away lot of extras spraying down the leg. Indian bowlers were visibly frustrated and desperate to get a wicket. There was no problem for the duo who were bowling as they tackled the bowling easily and Mitchell particularly with his down the ground sixes.
The crowd was silent as the duo were batting and soon in agony as Shami dropped a sitter at mid-on of Williamson of the bowling of Bumrah. Williamson adding to injury switched gears and started attacking the Indian bowlers as they shut the noise of crowd. And then came Mohammed Shami for his second Spell he redeemed himself by picking the Kane and Latham in the same over and made the wide open again.
The Indian team was charged up with the wickets and were back to their best in the field. But the was still far from over as New Zealand had power hitters down their lineup. Phillips stitched a good partnership with Mitchell, but they were tied down by some excellent bowling from the Indian bowlers. The Indians set a defensive field and bowled full deliveries from round the wicket getting the ball away from the batter’s arc.
With 132 required from the last ten they lost their way completely. Shami was the pick of the bowlers as he registered the best bowling performance by an Indian in the One-day Internationals picking up a seven-fer, as India bundled out New Zealand for 327 and winning by 70 runs.
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