India stormed into the World Cup 2023 final after a stunning 70-run victory over New Zealand in a thrilling high-scoring semifinal at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on November 15. The troika of Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami, and Shreyas Iyer remained the architects of India's convincing win.
Kohli etched his name into the annals of ODI cricket by becoming the first player to achieve the remarkable feat of 50 centuries in the format. Kohli (117 off 113) went on to break Sachin Tendulkar's World Record of most ODI tons after notching his 50th ODI ton propel India to a mammoth total of 397/4. Shreyas Iyer played a second fiddle with a ravishing 105 off 70. Then it was Shami's chance to shine as he literally pulled out India from a major scare posed by Daryl Mitchell and Kane Williamson and handed India important breakthroughs at the right time which helped India have the last laugh in the game. Shami finished with a remarkable bowling figures of 7/57 and became the first Indian bowler to take seven fer in the World Cup history.
Meanwhile, India skipper Rohit Sharma, in the post-match presentation, highlighted India's missed chances during the crucial game. After getting off to a stunning start while defending a big total of 397/4, Indian bowlers struggled to snare wickets in the middle which helped Williamson and Mitchell weave a 181-run partnership for the third wicket to take New Zealand from a precarious 39/2 to a commanding 220/3.
“I have played a lot of cricket here, you cannot relax. You got to get the job done as quickly as possible. We knew there'll 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., 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,” Rohit said after India's win.
After Williamson and Mitchell's batting blitzes in the middle, Shami, who dropped Kiwi skipper's catch earlier, rose to the occasion and provided India a much-needed breakthrough. He sent Williamson to pavilion at the score of 69. He also got rid of the dangerous looking Mitchell later, who struck a phenomenal 134. But Shami was in no mood to spare the New Zealand as he went on to remove the Kiwi tail and helped India to cruise into the World Cup 2023 final.
Meanwhile, Rohit also lauded India's batting heroics, mentioning Kohli, Iyer and Shubman Gill.
“The top five-six batters, they 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 back. 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 really nice,” Rohit concluded.
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