India lost to New Zealand by 18 runs in the first semi-final.
New Zealand handed title favorites India an 18-run defeat in the first semi-final of the ICC World Cup 2019 at Old Trafford in Manchester. The match which was played over two days went until the final five overs of the Indian innings.
The only saving grace of the Indian innings proved to be Ravindra Jadeja who made 77 runs and added more than 100 runs with MS Dhoni (50), to take India within striking distance of the target. His innings was the highest score by a batsman batting below number 7 in a World Cup game.
He did his usual gesture of swordplay after reaching his fifty and then gestured towards the commentary box. It was his way of telling the commentators who had pointed fingers at his abilities and even called him a bits and pieces cricketer.
Sanjay Manjrekar commentated in this match and he had earlier called Jadeja, a bits and pieces cricketer, of whom, he was not a big fan. This led to Jadeja putting down Manjrekar in a Twitter post and this led to Manjrekar being trolled brutally whenever Jadeja performed.
Here is the video of Jadeja gesturing towards the commentary box:
Thanks to Ross Taylor’s 74, New Zealand managed 239/8 in 50 overs and India might have seen themselves favorites of winning the team. However, Trent Boult and co. reduced India to 6/3 inside first five overs, as the top three Rohit, Rahul, and Kohli all went back to the pavilion for the score of 1 each, which later became 92/6 when Dhoni and Jadeja came together.