India vs New Zealand, World Cup 2023: India defeated New Zealand by 4 wickets in match 21 of the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023 in Dharamshala on Sunday. This was India’s first World Cup victory against New Zealand in two decades. They last defeated the Kiwis in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa where India finished the runners up.
Chasing New Zealand’s 273, India got a solid start with in-form Rohit Sharma and Shubhman Gill adding 71 runs in just 11 overs.
However, two quick wickets of Rohit and Gill pegged India back for a while but Kohli had the other ideas. The modern great stitched two crucial partnership – first with Shreyas Iyer and then with KL Rahul to take India close to the target.
However, the Kiwi’s fought back hard towards the fag end of the innings as India lost KL Rahul and Suryakumar (run out) in quick succession.
However, the master-chaser kept his cool and built another partnership with Ravindra Jadeja. Kohli looked almost certain to equal Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most ODI hundreds but fall 5 runs short.
Earlier, Mohammad Shami’s second world cup fifer aided by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj’s tight bowling overshadowed Daryl Mitchell’s career best knock as India bundled out New Zealand on 273 in the highly anticipated world cup 2023 encounter.
Invited to bat first after losing the toss, New Zealand didn’t get the desired start as in-form opener Devon Convoy failed to open his account and returned to the dug out in the fourth over. Will Young, on the other end, looked solid until star of the evening Mohammad Shami arrived.
Shami clean bowled Young on the very first ball of his spell as Kiwis reduced to 19/2 in 8.1 overs. However, Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell helmed New Zealand’s recovery and stitched a 159-run partnership for the third wicket.
Rachin was lucky as Jadeja dropped him while fielding at cover. He made the most of the chance and scored 75 off 87 until Shami once again got the better of him.
After Rachin’s wicket, Mitchell could not get much support from other players and New Zealand went down from 243/4 to 273- all out in a span of less than six overs. Mitchell scored his career best 130 off just 127 ball and got out on the second last ball of the innings.
For India, Shami finished with 45/5 in his 10 overs. He was well aided by Bumrah and Siraj who both claimed wicket each and gave away just 45 runs each in their 10 overs quota. Kuldeep Yadav was a bit expensive as he gave away 73 runs off his 10 overs. He, however, scalped two crucial wickets of Tom Latham and Glen Philips.
This was India’s 5th straight win in the world cup and they now sit on top of the points table. The victory against table toppers has further strengthened India’s position as a “team to beat” in the tournament.