India were 77 for 5 after 25 overs against New Zealand in the first semi-final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 at Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester on Wednesday.
Defending a 240-run target, New Zealand started with brutal pace attack. Matt Henry and Trent Boult rattled the Indian top-order. Rohit Sharma (1) fell to Henry when India’s score was only 4 runs. But even the worse was waiting to happen as India lost skipper Virat Kohli (1) and Lokesh Rahul (1) in a span of four balls. Kohli fell to Boult, whereas Rahul fell to Henry. The scoreboard read 5 for 3 and New Zealand were on top in no time.
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Before India could recover from the situation, Henry sent Dinesh Karthik (6) back to the pavilion and put India in deep trouble.
After the fall of Karthik, Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant erected the Indian spine with a 47-run stand for the fifth wicket. But in order to boost the run-rate Pant fell to Mitchell Santner after a handy 32.
Talking about New Zealand’s innings, the Kiwis posted a total of 239 runs for 8 wickets after 50 overs, thanks to 74 from Ross Taylor and 67 from Kane Williamson.
The target, which was looking a paltry one, soon turned out be very tough as India lost their top-order cheaply.