India reached the World Cup final for the fourth time in their history after defeating New Zealand by 70 runs in the first semi-final of the ongoing Cricket World Cup 2023 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday (November 15).

Batting first after winning the toss, India piled up 397/4 in their 50 overs with Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer scoring hundreds. Kohli (117) surpassed his idol Sachin Tendulkar's 25-year record with his 50th ODI hundred, and also became the first-ever batter to score 700 runs in a World Cup edition.

Iyer smashed 8 sixes to plunder a 70-ball 105. Shubman Gill (80*) had to retire hurt at 79 with cramps, while Rohit Sharma (47) and KL Rahul (39*) played important knocks as well.

In reply, Mohammad Shami dismissed the New Zealand openers cheaply but captain Kane Williamson (69) and Daryl Mitchell (134) batted superbly to get New Zealand back in the hunt despite the required run-rate reaching 10.

Shami once again struck just when India had begun to sweat, dismissing Williamson and Tom Latham (0) in the same over. Thereafter apart from Glenn Phillips (41), none of the New Zealand batters could deal with the steep required run-rate and wickets fell regularly. 

Shami finished with record figures of 7/57 - the best-ever bowling figures for India in ODIs. This was his third five-wicket in the ongoing World Cup edition and fourth overall in the tournament's history, also becoming the first Indian to pick 50 World Cup wickets, in just 17 matches.

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India entered the final after 12 years, and have now won all 10 of their matches in the tournament with the final up next for the team to complete their incredible campaign on Sunday. They will know who will be their opponent when South Africa take on Australia in the second semi-final on Thursday.

The Indian team members including captain Rohit Sharma celebrated their semi-final victory on social media platform X. Here are the posts: