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India and New Zealand have been tied up in the cricket World Cup semifinal of the ICC’s 2019
Universal Cricket World Container is one of the most thrilling and tepid semifinals witnessed in World Cup history. For some issues of rain interference, the match was held on 9th and 10th July 2019 at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester.
Day 1: New Zealand’s Innings: having won the toss, New Zealand decided to bat first. The Indian fast bowlers, Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, bowled tight line early, and wickets started to tumble regularly. Although New Zealand’s openers gave a proper start, the Indian bowlers managed to put some pressure on the Kiwis.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson came in at number three and scored a disruptive 67 off 95 balls in a crucial knock.Ross Taylor also made 74 runs for the team. But rain arrived when New Zealand was on 211 in 46.1, and the match had to be abandoned early to be resumed on the reserve day.
Day 2 was a different ball game as New Zealand went to bat again and came up with only 239/8 in 50 overs, setting the target of 240.
India’s Chase: Crisis, Disaster, and Survival India, one of the tournament’s main favorites, came into the chase with heaps of expectations. But, their top order garnered a premature dismissal akin to being bowled over, fair and square, by New Zealand’s bowling prowess.Matt Henry and Trent Boult demolished the Indian batting order in the powerplay to leave the team reeling at 5/3. Moreover, India’s star performers Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul managed only single-digit scores. Rohit Sharma led the Indian innings first, with Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli then trying to set it right but couldn’t take their scores to significant figures. At the same time, middle-order batsmen Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya dangled their sneakers but couldn’t make it big.
India was once tottering at 92/6. Then, an eye-opening partnership between Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni was formed. More notably, Jadeja anchored a counter-attacking knock of 77 from 59 balls, which brought India back into the range. And thus, remaining committed to type, Dhoni took slower innings of 50 for 72 balls but kept the Indians entertained.
It was a dramatic turn of events that Dhoni was run out by Martin Gupitill’s excellent throw, which proved India’s fate. India abandoned the match by 18 runs and got all out at 221 in the 49.3 overs.
Key Highlights:
- New Zealand won by 18 runs and moved to the final.
- Matt Henry, who bowled brilliantly to earn three wickets in 37 of the balls, earned the Player of the Match award.
- Had it not been for Ravindra Jadeja’s skillful all-rounder performance through Bat and Bow, India’s case would have been hopeless.
- MS Dhoni’s run out was sad but a sight for sore eyes for every single fan of the Indian team as it meant that India had been kicked out of the 2019 World Cup.
- New Zealand bowled well to restrict India, while premier Indian batsman Virat Kohli’s poor showing led to the team’s failure to chase down 201, thus ending India’s World Cup dream.