Team India continued their dominance in the ongoing World Cup as they defeated New Zealand by four wickets at HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala on Sunday (October 22).
Opting to bowl first, India rode on Mohammad Shami’s five-wicket haul (5/54) to bundle out New Zealand for 273 in 50 overs.
Daryl Mitchell was the top scorer for the Kiwis with 130 off 127 balls. Rachin Ravindra also played a vital knock of 75 in 87 balls.
In reply, the Men in Blue got off to a blazing start as the duo of Rohit Sharma (46) and Shubman Gill (26) added 71 runs for the opening wicket. However, both of them got out in quick succession.
Amid the pressure situation, Virat Kohli once again stood up to the plate for India. He stitched a couple of crucial partnerships with Shreyas Iyer (33) and KL Rahul (27) but the hosts kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
At one stage, India were struggling at 191/5 but Kohli held the one end firmly and soaked the pressure brilliantly. He forged a 78-run stand with Ravindra Jadeja to put his team on the brink of victory.
With India needing 5 runs off 15 balls, Kohli went for a big shot but failed to get a desired connection and was holed out at deep mid wicket for 95 off 104 balls. In the end, Jadeja (39*) sealed the deal for India in 48 overs with a boundary off Matt Henry.
For his match-winning knock, Virat Kohli garnered rich praise from the cricket fraternity on social media platform X.
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