India defeated New Zealand by 70 runs in the first semi-final of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2023 at the Wankede Stadium in Mumbai on November 15. With this incredible triumph, the Indian cricket
team made the final of the World Cup for the third-time in their cricketing journey. On this day, Virat Kohli also etched his name in history books by breaking a major ODI record, scoring his 50th hundred in the 50-over format to go past his former teammate and idol Sachin Tendulkar.
In a competitive knockout stage match of the World Cup during the festival season in India in 2023, captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bat first on what was anticipated to be a very good batting pitch. Continuing his rich vein of form in the tournament, Sharma got off to a flyer in the semi-final, sharing an opening stand of 71 runs in just 8.2 overs before being dismissed by Tim Southee for 47 off 29 with four fours and four maximums.
Gill was joined by Virat Kohli in the middle and they put together a second wicket stand of 93 runs before the former retired hurt due to cramps sustained in the afternoon heat of Mumbai. Kohli went on to share a match-defining second wicket stand of 163 runs with Shreyas Iyer during which he broke the long-standing record of Sachin Tendulkar and scored 117 off 113 with nine fours and two sixes before falling to Tim Southee. Iyer batted till the second last over of the Indian innings, scoring an incredible 105 off just 70 with four fours and a whopping eight sixes prior to Trent Boult getting him out.
During the last over, Southee dismissed Suryakumar Yadav for 1(2) before Shubman Gill returned to the crease and got a single out of one ball faced, staying unbeaten on 80 off 66 with eight fours and three maximums while KL Rahul reached 39* off 20 with five fours and two sixes. It allowed India to post a massive total of 397/4 in their allotted 50 overs with Tim Southee registering figures of (10-0-100-3).
Daryl Mitchell's 134 off 119 went in vain as India won the match convincingly at the end
In the run chase, New Zealand lost their openers Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra relatively cheaply to Mohammed Shami in the first powerplay stage. Following that, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell shared a 181-run stand for the third wicket to keep New Zealand well in the game during their pursuit of a daunting target close to 400 runs. Shami got the big scalp of Williamson for 69 off 73 with eight fours and a six before dismissing Tom Latham for zero in the same over.
Mitchell, who had completed his hundred by that time, continued on his merry way with Glenn Phillips, sharing a 75-run stand for the fourth wicket to bring the Black Caps right back into the contest before Jasprit Bumrah dismissed him for 41 off 33 with four fours and two sixes. But after that, Shami returned for another spell, picking up the prized scalp of Daryl Mitchell for 134 off 119 with nine fours and seven sixes.
He completed a seven-wicket haul to help bowl out New Zealand for 327 runs in 48.5 overs and became the player of the match.
