A sweet revenge by Rohit Sharma‘s Team India saw them burying the ghosts of the 2019 World Cup Semi-final loss as they defeated New Zealand by 70 runs in an intense clash at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. A historic 50th ODI hundred by Virat Kohli saw him go past Sachin Tendulkar in the centuries tally along with a second successive ton by Shreyas Iyer meant that India put up a mountain of runs for New Zealand to chase at 397/4.
The New Zealand batters were rattled initially in the powerplay. Still, a counterattacking partnership between Daryl Mitchell and skipper Kane Williamson gave a scare before Mohammed Shami ran through the batting order to secure a historic 7-wicket haul and a place in the World Cup finals.
The high voltage clash in Mumbai witnessed milestones being broken one by one with many big names in the audience. The match was being played on a used pitch, and on a ground that has shown the most variance in runs scored while batting in the afternoon and under lights, toss was always going to be key. Rohit Sharma called it right and had no hesitation in batting first on a slow wicket. The skipper walked the talk as he charged the New Zealand pacers right from the onset, with the pitch offering no swing for the pacers.
Rohit went on to strike 4 sixes and 4 fours inside the powerplay, overcoming the knockout match pressure. These un-selfish innings by the skipper set the stage for India and gave enough time for other batters to take their time to get adjusted to the pace of the wicket. Rohit Sharma was dismissed in the 9th over off a slower ball by Tim Southee with Kane Williamson completing a great catch. Shubman Gill carried the baton from his skipper as he played a few aggressive shots of the Kiwi spinners as Virat Kohli took his time to settle.
Shubman Gill completed his half-century and looked well set towards heading to his maiden World Cup hundred, however, he had to retire hurt while batting at 78 due to cramps. The retirement only added to New Zealand’s worries as Shreyas Iyer batted with utmost ferocity, striking sixes with relative ease. Among all this, Virat Kohli accelerated his innings, and completed his 50th ODI hundred in front of his wife, and the very man he idolized all his life, on a ground where Tendulkar passed the metaphorical baton to him exactly 10 years ago.
Virat scored 112 runs in the last 10 overs with Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul striking Boult, Southee, and Ferguson all over the park. Iyer got into his hundred off 66 balls and KL Rahul added the finishing touches to take India to 397/4 in 50 overs, the highest-ever score in a World Cup knockout match.
We knew there’d be pressure on us. We were calm even though we were a bit sloppy on the field. These things are bound to happen, glad that we could get the job done – Rohit Sharma
“I have played a lot of cricket here, you cannot relax. You have to get the job done as quickly as possible. We knew there’d be pressure on us. We were calm even though we were a bit sloppy on the field. These things are bound to happen, glad that we could get the job done. When the scoring rate is above 9, you gotta take chances. They gave us chances, we didn’t take them,” said Rohit Sharma.
“Mitchell and Williamson batted brilliantly. We had to stay calm. The crowd went silent, that’s the nature of the game. We knew we had to pull something from our sleeves. We tried everything and Shami was brilliant. The top five batters, have made it count. Very pleased with what Iyer has done in this tournament. Gill, the way he batted upfront was brilliant, unfortunately, he had to return” he stated.
“Kohli, as usual, was brilliant, played his trademark innings and got to his landmark. All in all, the batting was superb. That’s the template we want to move with. England game, we got only 230 on the board. The way our bowlers bowled upfront, they picked wickets. Today, I wouldn’t say there was no pressure. Guys were doing the job. We wanted to do what we’ve been doing in the first nine games. Things came off nice,” he added.