India beat New Zealand by 70 runs to enter World Cup final at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Batting first, India scored 397/4 in 50 overs. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill began Indian innings on a good note as both batters slammed some boundaries against the lead pacers of the New Zealand. Indian captain Rohit Sharma gave a solid start with 47 of 29 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes. Shubman Gill scored 80 not out of 66 balls. The historical match witnessed Virat Kohli itching the magical record 50th ODI century with a superb knock of 117 runs. Virat Kohli slammed his 6th half-century in ICC World Cup 2023 and the Indian star is eyeing to break Sachin Tendulkar’s record and become the first batter to hit 50 ODI centuries. Virat also became the second Indian batter to have a World Cup 100 against New Zealand after Sunil Gavaskar. He surpassed the record of Sachin Tendulkar in his presence to make it even more memorable. Shreyash Iyer played a superb innings of 105 of 70 balls with 4 fours and 8 sixes.
Chasing the target of 398 to win, Kiwis folded for 327 and exited the tournament. Daryl Mitchell scored 134 with 9 fours and 7 sixes and stood to fight strongly before falling to Mohammed Shami. In a historic performance Mohammed Shami etched his name in the annals of 50-over World Cup history, delivering the best-ever bowling figures by an Indian bowler in the tournament. Shami took 7 wickets for 57 runs and bagged the player of the match award.
This has been ninth consecutive win by team India in the world cup 2023. Now, India would play final match on 19th November 2023 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad with the winner of semi final 2 – South Africa or Australia.
