After 12 years, India have reached the final of the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup. They just outplayed New Zealand in every department at Wankhede Stadium and won the match by 70 runs, which is enough to go to the grand finale. The last time India played in the ODI World Cup final was in 2011 in India, when they won their second World Cup glory.
The chance comes again for India after a long 12 years. From batting to bowling, India have been showing their strength in every department in this tournament. India faced New Zealand in today’s semifinal after being unbeaten in nine consecutive matches. The host dominated the Black Caps in the entire game.
Winning the toss, Rohit Sharma decided to bat first for India, and they posted a challenging target of 398 runs to New Zealand. The Black Caps, in response, were able to score only 327 runs. As a result, India secured a dominating victory by 70 runs and reached the final of the tournament.
Match Report
Winning the toss, India had a flying start today as skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill were very aggressive from the beginning. Although the captain departed after scoring an attacking 47 off 29 balls, Shubman Gill made a fantastic partnership with Virat Kohli.
The two batsmen ruled the Kiwi bowlers, making a partnership of 256 runs. Virat and Gill picked up half a century for each and were heading towards the century. Virat Kohli was more attacking than Gill and smashed a brilliant hundred against the Kiwi. It is his 3rd century in the tournament and 50th century in his career.
However, Kohli stopped in 117 runs when Tim Southee picked him up in the 44th over. After Kohli, Shreyas Iyer took the responsibility and smashed another century like Kohli. He scored a quick 105 runs before losing the wicket. But Shubman Gill, on the other hand, remained not out in 80 runs. Relying on these scores, India posted a total of 397 runs in 50 overs.
Chasing the target, New Zealand lost two early wickets. Openers Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra had gone back to the pavilion after scoring only 13 runs each. However, Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell tried hard to make a good impact. But the asking run rate kept rising over by over.
They made a partnership of 181 runs, which ended with Williamson’s departure. In the 32.2 over, Kane Williamson lost his wicket to Mohammad Shami after picking up 69 runs on the scoreboard.
Daryl Mitchell, however, smashed a century but failed to avoid the defeat. Mohammad Shami got his wicket in the 45 over. Mitchell scored the highest 134 runs for the Black Caps. After that, the remaining batters of New Zealand couldn’t fight back as Mohammad Shami was on fire. Eventually, New Zealand were tied up in 327 runs by Shami alone, who picked up 7 wickets. As a result, India won the match by 70 runs and stepped into the final.
