India vs New Zealand, World Cup 2023: Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Shami power India to final

India stormed to the final of the 2023 World Cup after a crushing win over New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday.

India’s 10th successive win of the tournament was highlighted by Virat Kohli’s 50th ODI hundred, Shreyas Iyer’s second consecutive hundred and Mohammed Shami’s third five-wicket within a span of three weeks.

Virat Kohli and Mohammed Shami now lead the charts for the leading run-scorers and wicket-takers respectively in this edition of the World Cup. While Kohli top-scored for India with 117, Shami picked career-best ODI figures of 7 for 57 to destroy New Zealand’s chase and set up a sensational victory for India.

India were finally able to break the semifinal jinx and secure a berth in the final of an ODI World Cup after surviving a scare from Daryl Mitchell and Kane Williamson, who had kept New Zealand in the hunt for a massive run chase. This will be India’s fourth World Cup final. They had first won the World Cup in 1983 and then had to wait for 20 years to reach another World Cup final.

After a poor campaign in 2007, India became the first host nation to win the World Cup in 2011. Four years later, India topped their group and were unbeaten before a huge defeat to Australia, the eventual champions in 2015. India were once again the best team in the 2019 World Cup but they lost to New Zealand in a nail-biting thriller which was affected by rain and had to be played over two days.

India have been ruthless in this World Cup. They remained unbeaten throughout the group stage with victories over Australia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, New Zealand, England, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Netherlands.

DAREDEVIL DARYL’S VALIANT EFFORT

New Zealand needed a frenetic start to what would have been a record run chase. They had come close to Australia’s 388 earlier in the tournament and India knew the Black Caps had the firepower to challenge 398 on an excellent cricket pitch. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj did not look as threatening as they have been throughout this World Cup and Rohit Sharma turned to Mohammed Shami, the ace up his sleeve. And Shami did not disappoint. He picked two wickets in his first two overs to remove the New Zealand openers Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra.

The onus was on Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell to steer New Zealand and keep them afloat against a top-quality Indian bowling attack. The going was tough but the plan for New Zealand was clear. They wanted to get to a comfortable position by the 30th over and then use the muscle in the middle-order to chase down whatever was left of the target in the last 20 overs. Williamson and Mitchell were able to execute a fair bit of that plan with New Zealand reaching 199 for 2 after 30 overs of their chase.

Daryl Mitchell had scored a hundred against India in their group match but he had slowed down with the landmark in his sight in Dharamsala before Mohammed Shami came back for a final spell and rocked the rest of the batting line-up. Something similar unfolded again even though Mitchell never took his foot off the accelerator. For the first time in the tournament, India’s bowlers were put under some kind of pressure. Bumrah and Siraj were expensive and some of their sting was missing but the relentless Shami came back for his third spell and dismissed Kane Williamson and Tom Latham in the same over.

From thereon, New Zealand did well to stay afloat but you could see that the equation was getting out of control. Glenn Phillips played a good hand (41 off 33 balls) but India bounced back again with two more quick wickets – Bumrah removed Phillips while Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Mark Chapman.

Mohammed Shami wasn’t done yet. In his penultimate over, he dismissed Daryl Mitchell to pick his third five-wicket haul of the tournament as India closed in on a World Cup final.

Virat Kohli chose the perfect stage to get to ODI hundred No.50. The Wankhede Stadium. A World Cup semifinal. Sachin Tendulkar watching from the stands. Earlier in November, Kohli could have equaled Tendulkar’s record for most ODI hundreds at the same venue but he was dismissed for 88 against Sri Lanka. However, that missed opportunity meant Kohli went level with the Master Blaster at the Eden Gardens on his birthday.

On Wednesday, Virat Kohli did not put a foot wrong after Rohit Sharma once again set the tone for India’s innings with a swashbuckling 47. The India captain has been in destructive mood in this World Cup and in a must-win game, he took it upon himself to give the side an electrifying start. The Wankhede Stadium has seen teams piling up big scores and Rohit did not hesitate to bat first after winning the toss. He knew the importance of a massive total in a pressure match despite India’s star-studded bowling line-up. Rohit Sharma was ruthless against Trent Boult and Tim Southee and even the calm Kane Williamson looked clueless as India raced away in the first innings.

It was Kane Williamson who held on to a tough catch to see off Rohit Sharma. Virat Kohli started slowly while Shubman Gill took over from the India captain and kept the pressure on the New Zealand bowlers. Gill was sublime on his way to his fourth half-century of the 2023 World Cup. The leading run-scorer in ODIs this year, Gill played some delightful shots and was well on course to his maiden World Cup hundred before he had to walk off with cramps after reaching 79. That moment brought Shreyas Iyer into the middle with Virat Kohli and the two men were involved in one of the most iconic partnerships for India in World Cup history.

India were in cruise control when Shubman Gill had to retreat. And it was important for the next man in to maintain the same momentum. It was important for Virat Kohli to stay at the crease for as long as possible. That is the role assigned to him in this tournament and Kohli has relished it like no one else. Shreyas Iyer came in and showed exactly why the Indian team management was so keen on getting him on board for the World Cup. After starting with a duck against Australia, Iyer unleashed his true potential. After back-to-back fifties against Sri Lanka and South Africa, Iyer roared to his first World Cup hundred against Netherlands and then followed that up with another hundred against New Zealand.

However, the focus has long been on Virat Kohli’s tally of hundreds. Could he get to No.50? He did and it was a flawless century. Like he has done all his career, Kohli timed the innings perfectly. He started sedately but ran hard and then exhibited scintillating stroke-play to inch close to a memorable hundred. Once the milestone had been achieved, Kohli took his helmet off and bowed down to his hero, who led a standing ovation at his home ground. Kohli fell for 117, his highest score in any World Cup match. By then, he had overtaken not just Tendulkar’s tally of ODI hundreds but became the first cricketer to breach the 700-run mark in a single World Cup and went past Ricky Ponting to become the third leading run-scorer in one-day internationals.

Virat Kohli’s dismissal was the cue for Shreyas Iyer to accelerate further and in no time, he had raced away to a hundred he would remember for a long time.