India are most likely to face New Zealand in the semi-final of the World Cup 2023.
As per the current calculations, New Zealand will most certainly face India in the final-four clash at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai as teams like Pakistan and Afghanistan have improbable tasks at hand to surpass the net run rate of the Kiwis.
Ahead of the potential India versus New Zealand semi-final, former England pacer Steve Harmison has said that the BlackCaps are the one side that Rohit Sharma’s men wouldn’t want to play in the knock-out stage.
“A quality side like New Zealand, you can never write them off. Out of the three teams that are in the semi-finals with India, I've got a funny feeling that they are the one team that India wouldn't want to play because they have character. They are all coming back to fitness,” said Harmison while speaking to ESPNcricinfo.
“I wouldn't say they are all in prime form. But on the big stage, India and New Zealand have been here before. All the pressure is now on India. Indian cricketers are used to playing under pressure so I don’t think that will harm them too much. If India had one side they didn't want to play in the semi-final, it would be New Zealand,” he added.
As of today, India, Australia and South Africa have booked their spot in the World Cup semi-finals. By thrashing Sri Lanka, the Kiwis took their tally to 10 points in nine games, two more than Afghanistan and Pakistan who have one more match to play.
However, New Zealand’s net run rate of +0.743 is way superior than that of Pakistan (+0.036) and Afghanistan (-0.338).