Team India booked a date with destiny after they registered a massive win in the ODI World Cup semifinal against New Zealand on Wednesday (Nov 15). The 70-run win against the Kiwis at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai was backed by an inspired performance by speedster Mohammed Shami who scalped seven wickets while Virat Kohli had a monumental day with his 50th ODI ton. The day also saw Shreyas Iyer score a ton on his home ground as India reduced New Zealand to 327 runs after setting a 398-run target. The Men in Blue will now play in the ODI World Cup final on Sunday with the winner of South Africa and Australia clash in the second semifinal.

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Shami helps India cruise past New Zealand

Having set a target of 398, New Zealand did not have the best starts and were reduced to 39/2 before skipper Kane Williamson (69) and Daryl Mitchell (134) brought Kiwis back into the game. Both openers, Rachin Ravindra (13) and Devon Conway (13) departed early leaving plenty of work to be done. However, Mitchell and Williamson then built an 181-run partnership for the third wicket before Shami came back to haunt the Kiwis.

After Williamson’s departure, New Zealand lost wickets at regular intervals while Shami enjoyed another stellar outing with the ball. He helped India clean up the tail as New Zealand were bowled out for 327 in a marathon run chase at the Wankhede Stadium. Glenn Phillips showed little resilience with a 41-run knock, but India won the match by 70 runs. Shami ended with figures of 57/7 while Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Kuldeep Yadav ended with one wicket each.

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What happened earlier?

Earlier, India ended their innings with 397/4 as Virat Kohli (117) and Shreyas Iyer (105) helped India with a mammoth total. Shubman Gill also remained unbeaten on 80 as he retired hurt after cramps. Kohli scored his record-breaking 50th ODI ton which saw him leapfrog Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of 49th. He also surpassed Sachin’s tally of 673 runs in a single edition of the ODI World Cup and now has 711 runs with a match still to go.

India will now await the winner of South Africa and Australia who meet in the second semifinal on Thursday (Nov 16) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

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