NEW DELHI, Nov 15: India has entered the finals of the ODI Cricket World Cup defeating New Zealand by 70 runs in the first semi-final played at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday.
The star of the match was pace bowler Mohammed Shami who took seven wickets conceding only 57 runs in his 9.5 overs. It was also India’s 10th consecutive win in the current World Cup having won all the nine matches in the league.
India will now wait for the winner of the second semi-final to be played between South Africa and Australia at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on Thursday to play the final at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad on November 19.
Electing to bat first after winning the toss, India piled up 397 runs for the loss of five wickets with Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer scoring centuries with useful contributions from Shubman Gill (80 not out), captain Rohit Sharma (47) and KL Rahul (39 not out).
Virat Kohli (117) scored his 50th century in ODI overtaking Sachin Tendulkar’s 49 ODI hundreds. He first with Gill who retired hurt when the score was 164, and then with Shreyas Iyer (105) took the score to 327 when Kohli returned to pavilion. The first wicket of Rohit Sharma had fallen at the score of 71 that India reached in just 8.2 overs.
In reply, New Zealand lost two quick wickets within the power play but then captain Kane Williams (69) with Daryl Mitchel (134) kept the hopes alive for the Kiwis with 181 runs partnership for the third wicket. Mitchel with Glenn Phillips (41) also added 75 runs for the fifth wicket but once Phillips departed at the score of 295, the New Zealand innings folded up quickly and was bowled out for 327 in 48.5 overs.
(Manas Dasgupta)
