INDIA: In Dharamsala on Sunday, India maintained their unbeaten streak in the present World Cup by defeating New Zealand by four wickets. This was India’s fifth victory in the same number of games, and the result propelled the hosts to the top of the ten-team standings.
With two overs remaining, India, who was set to chase a difficult 274 for the wicket, concluded the match. The captain of India’s run chase, Virat Kohli, was unfortunate not to get a century. Although Kohli was removed for 95 (104), New Zealand had already lost the match when it occurred.
Within his innings, Kohli shared three fifty-plus runs with KL Rahul (54), Ravindra Jadeja (78), and Shreyas Iyer (52). On 39 off 44 balls, Jadeja returned unbeaten on 39, demonstrating his excellent batsmanship.
India got off to a great start thanks to Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. Before Lockie Ferguson dismissed Rohit for 46 (40), the two largely dealt in boundaries and put up 71 runs for the first wicket. Not too long after Gill was eliminated by the pacer for 26 (31).
The run chase had been stopped in the sixteenth over by haze and poor visibility, but after a short pause, play continued. In his opening World Cup match, Mohammed Shami took five wickets to spearhead India’s comeback in the final ten overs.
After a stand of 159 runs in just 152 balls between Daryl Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra, New Zealand seemed certain to reach 300 runs, if not beyond. Mitchell went on to have a pretty massive innings, making 130 off 127 balls, but in the final 10 overs, New Zealand could manage just 54 runs and lost six wickets.
While India dominated New Zealand for runs in the first ten overs after winning the toss and opting to bowl first, Ravindra and Mitchell made India feel the heat in the chilly Dharamsala weather. The injury to Hardik Pandya and the removal of Shardul Thakur left the team without a sixth seamer, something the batters felt acutely when they sent spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja to the cleaners.
In sharp contrast to how the first ten overs went, Kuldeep ended up giving up 32 runs in his opening three overs. Within the first ten overs, the Indian seamers were unrelenting, as Mohammed Shami removed Will Young with the opening ball of the game within that time.
Jadeja bowled 10 consecutive overs with 0/48, forcing India to use up all his overs in the first 30 overs. Shami dismissed Ravindra for 75 off 87 balls in the 34th over. Mitchell continued to score his fifth century in an ODI, and the Indians retaliated, leaving New Zealand out for 273.
India, now with five back-to-back wins, would like to continue this form in their remaining matches. India has ticked all the boxes in all the departments in all these wins and would look to continue their unbroken streak of wins.
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