Team India entered the final of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 with a comprehensive 70-run victory over New Zealand in the first semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Wednesday (November 15).
In the all-important game, the Men in Blue won the toss and opted to bat first. Riding on centuries from Virat Kohli (117 off 113) and Shreyas Iyer (105 off 70), the hosts racked up a mammoth 397/4 on the board. Shubman Gill (80* off 66) and Rohit Sharma (47 off 29) set the tone with a 71-run opening stand.
In reply, Daryl Mitchell slammed a brilliant century but it went in vain as the Kiwi innings folded for 327 in 48.5 overs. Mohammad Shami starred with the ball for India, returning with a seven-wicket haul (7/57) in his 9.5 overs.
After the game, India skipper Rohit Sharma said they were pleased to get the job done after Mitchell and Kane Williamson (69) threatened to take the game away with a 181-run partnership.
“I have played a lot of cricket here, you cannot relax. You got to get the job done as quickly as possible. We knew there'll be pressure on us. We were calm even though we were a bit sloppy on the field. These things are bound to happen, glad that we could get the job done,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation.
The Indian captain rued the missed opportunities on the field. “When the scoring rate is above 9, you gotta take chances. They gave us chances, we didn't take them, Mitchell and Williamson batted brilliantly. We had to stay calm. The crowd went silent, that's the nature of the game. We knew we had to pull something from our sleeves. We tried everything and Shami was brilliant,” he added.
Rohit was proud of the batting effort of top five and had special praise reserved for Iyer, Gill and Kohli, who created history by becoming the first batter to hit 50 ODI tons.
“The top five-six batters, they have made it count. Very pleased with what Iyer has done in this tournament. Gill, the way he batted upfront was brilliant, unfortunately he had to return back. Kohli, as usual, was brilliant, played his trademark innings and got to his landmark. All in all, the batting was superb. That's the template we want to move with,” Rohit said.
“England game, we got only 230 on the board. The way our bowlers bowled upfront, they picked wickets. Today, I wouldn't say there was no pressure. Guys were doing the job. We wanted to do what we've been doing in the first nine games. Things came off really nice,” he concluded.
