Incredible India in ODI Cricket World Cup final after New Zealand win
India qualified for the ODI Cricket World Cup final yesterday with a 70-run victory over New Zealand in Mumbai.
They will feature in their fourth World Cup final when they take on either Australia or South Africa on Sunday.
Rohit Sharma’s men are looking to win their first title in the competition since 2011.
India shine
The tournament hosts scored 397 in their innings with Virat Kohli’s 117 taking him to 50 half-century scores in the format.
Openers Sharma and Shubman Gill hit 47 and 80 respectively with Shreyas Iyer adding another 105.
Tim Southee got three wickets for 100 runs from his 10 wickets with Trent Boult the only other Kiwi to pick up a wicket.
New Zealand chased well, with Daryl Mitchell knocking 134, Kane Williamson 69 and Glenn Phillips 41 but it was not enough to chase down the impressive Indian target.
Mohammed Shami shone for the hosts, claiming seven of his side’s wickets for just 57 runs.
Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav each got a wicket to aid India’s quest for a third World Cup triumph.
Chances
“I was waiting for my chances. I didn’t play a lot of white-ball cricket. My return started against New Zealand in the group stage,” Shami said.
“We talk about a lot of variations, but I still believe in pitching it up and getting wickets with the new ball. I dropped a catch for Kane Williamson, I shouldn’t have. I felt terrible. But the focus was to try and take pace off, see if they’re hitting it in the air.
“The wicket was very good, lots of runs were scored in the afternoon. There was some fear of dew, the grass had been shaved off from the wicket. If dew was there, it skids on and there’s a chance runs could’ve been made. It feels amazing.
“Last two World Cups, we lost in the semis. Who knows when or if we’ll get a chance, so we wanted to do everything for this, one chance we didn’t want to let go.”
Australia and South Africa face off today ion Kolkata.