Mumbai: In the 2023 World Cup, India continued their winning run while comprehensively defeating New Zealand in Dharamshala on Sunday. In addition, it marked India’s first victory over New Zealand in an ICC competition in 20 years. With five wins from five matches thus far in the tournament, India now leads the points table, while New Zealand, with four wins from five matches, is now ranked second.
Virat Kohli and Mohammed Shami, who became the first Indian bowler to take more than five wickets in an ODI World Cup, wrote the screenplay for the Indian victory. Shami was only able to play in Dharamshala because to the fact that India had to substitute Suryakumar Yadav for star all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who had injured his ankle during the match against Bangladesh, in order to offset Pandya’s absence.
Virat Kohli, delivered yet another masterwork. The “chasemaster” was five runs shy of his second consecutive century in the One-Day International format. The number of runs required for Kohli’s century and the total required for India were exactly the same, just like in the match against Bangladesh. However, Kohli fell to Matt Henry in an over where he was within striking distance of Sachin Tendulkar’s world record of 49 hundreds, but Jadeja hit the winning runs to condemn New Zealand to their first World Cup loss.
This year’s World Cup has seen Virat Kohli emerge as the top run scorer, which is a significant accomplishment for a guy who only recently.
In all five of this World Cup’s matches, India has chased. Once again, Rohit Sharma provided the squad an incredible start in a chase of 274 after being out for a duck in India’s opening game against Australia. He also became the first player in the competition to achieve 300 runs. Rohit Sharma was merciless against Trent Boult and Matt Henry despite facing one of the world’s finest pace bowling assaults; however, when Tom Latham brought in Lockie Ferguson, he pulled one on to his stumps.
With Shubman Gill’s heavy edge finding Daryl Mitchell at deep third man, Ferguson would strike again in his second over.
India got off to a great start, thanks to Rohit Sharma’s true game-revolution. The Indian captain was merciless against New Zealand, just as he was against Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. In a 40-ball 46, Rohit struck four boundaries and four sixes to set the tone for India. Shubman Gill, who has been playing exceptionally well this year, became the fastest player to achieve 2000 ODI runs, but he would be dissatisfied with his shot selection, especially because it was a perfect chance to establish his dominance over Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the World Cup.
When it came to unleashing his beautiful cover drives, Virat Kohli was hesitant. Shreyas Iyer, on the other hand, entered the game with tremendous intent and quickly dashed any thoughts that New Zealand may cause more harm to India’s batting lineup. Iyer made sure the bowlers from New Zealand found no rhythm when he was at the crease, since it was anticipated that the dew would set in more quickly than at other locations. Trent Boult’s accurate short ball ended Shreyas Iyer’s stay at the crease, even though the Indian number four has struggled with shorter balls. Devon Conway made a good catch at deep square leg, and the ball was skied without any kind of timing or control.
Following the dismissal of Shreyas Iyer in the 22nd over, KL Rahul—who had looked impressive during a 54-run partnership with Virat Kohli—in the 33rd over, and Suryakumar Yadav’s unfortunate run-out, India lost their way in the chase.
It was a difficult ask for Ravindra Jadeja, who was batting for the first time in this World Cup. The Indian batting lineup was sparse after No. 7, so it was all up to Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja to lead India home. Neither of these two middle-order guys could afford to go out. Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer’s two quick innings made the needed run-rate reasonable, allowing Kohli and Jadeja to guide India.
After Rohit Sharma won the toss, Mohammed Siraj removed Devon Conway for a duck, and then Mohammed Shami scored with his first delivery of the competition. With a peach of a delivery, he dismissed Will Young, setting up a difficult task for New Zealand, who were 19 for 2 in the ninth over. Jasprit Bumrah, who once again proved to be excellent by conceding just 14 runs in his opening four overs, contributed to the early pressure.
Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell, who put on 159 runs for the third wicket, proved to be New Zealand’s salvation. When Ravindra Jadeja dropped him at backward point off the bowling of Mohammed Shami, it was a fortunate moment for Ravindra. From that point on, the two Kiwi batsmen took advantage of some careless Indian fielding. When Jasprit Bumrah failed to take a straightforward catch off Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell also lost a life. Rohit Sharma did not disguise his dissatisfaction as India’s fielding performance plummeted. To further complicate things, Kuldeep Yadav had a typical day out at the ball. One of the top ODI bowlers in the world found himself under pressure after being smacked for two sixes in his opening over. India had just five bowlers available for the match.
One of the top ODI bowlers in the world found himself under pressure after being smacked for two sixes in his opening over. With just five bowlers available for India on Sunday, Rohit Sharma was forced to stick with Kuldeep.
Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja did a good job of keeping things orderly by bowling all 10 of his overs in a single spell.
The pitch was slow, and it wasn’t always simple to make strokes. After a while, Ravindra and Mitchell concluded that against a formidable Indian batting lineup, New Zealand would be content with a total of less than 300. Being clinical, the two men prevented Kuldeep Yadav from settling in and performing his magic.
With the wickets of Glenn Phillips and Tom Lathan, Kuldeep Yadav did atone for his mistakes, but his final over cost him the most in ODI World Cup history. Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell batted with such style that it took a special effort from Mohammed Shami in his World Cup debut. There was nothing he could have done against two aggressive hitters.
Rachin Ravindra looked like he could reach his second century at one stage, but Mohammed Shami caught him for 75 off 87 balls. It was Mitchell’s responsibility to lead New Zealand to a competitive total; he moved slowly from 93 to 100 and then ramped up the tempo, but by that point, Mohammed Shami was untamable. His efforts, along with those of Siraj and Bumrah, were responsible for New Zealand scoring just 54 runs in their final 10 overs.
Mohammed Shami claimed five wickets in a bilateral series against Australia prior to this World Cup, and he concluded with stats of 5 for 54 weeks. He was only able to participate in the competition in India’s sixth game, but even then, he made an incredible impression. Shami only participated in four World Cup matches in 2019 but took an incredible 14 wickets, including two four- and one five-wicket hauls. Shami’s heroics on Sunday have prevented the team management from benching him once more during the competition.
India next take on defending champions England in Lucknow on October 29.
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