India started off the 2023 World Cup with a dream run, winning all four out of their first four encounters. Be it Australia, Bangladesh, Afghanistan or Pakistan, India stamped their authority by comprehensively beating them by significant margins. The entire Indian squad has looked a class-apart this season, with the key players chipping in time and again.
However, New Zealand has been one team that India has had its fair-share of struggles with in World Cups. Be it ODI or T20Is, the Men in Blue have found it difficult to break past the Black-Caps. The wounds from the 2019 WC Semis were still rather fresh in the minds of the Indians. This game in Dharamsala was set up to be a riveting battle between the two heavyweights.
Winning the toss in conditions that are known for swing & seam, India rightfully opted to bowl first. Siraj & Shami made early inroads, sending back the pair cheaply. The third wicket, however, was hard to come by. In-form Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell took the attack to the Indian bowlers, peppering the boundaries and scoring at a healthy strike rate. Mitchell took apart Kuldeep and got to his hundred, his fifth in One Day Internationals.
Shami broke the partnership, sending back the well-set Ravindra. India made a decent come-back, cleaning up the tail courtesy some pin-point yorkers from Mohammed Shami. New Zealand ended up with 273 on the board, a defendable total, but 20-25 short given the solid third-wicket partnership and also the form that team India have been in lately.
India were up against Trent Boult & Matt Henry with the new ball, a duo that have rattled the Indian line-up in the past. They hit their areas consistently, getting it to seam from a good-length. But the Indian openers were quick to pounce on anything full or wide. Rohit Sharma took on Matt Henry and stepped out to smoke two biggies over mid-off and mid-on. Shubman Gill looked at his elegant best as he drove through the covers and square on the off-side.
India lost Rohit Sharma post the powerplay, with the skipper falling four short of yet another 50 in the WC. Shubman Gill followed soon after, sending one down third man’s throat. Virat Kohli continued his rich vein of form with some crisp drives. Him, alongside Shreyas Iyer looked to stabilize the Indian innings, before Iyer fell to a Boult bouncer. KL Rahul contributed with a handy 27 but was unable to take it deep as he was trapped in-front by an arm ball from Santner.
India lost yet another wicket as Suryakumar Yadav found himself in an awful mix-up resulting in a run-out. It looked as though India were due for an ugly collapse. But with 83 required off 16 overs, India believed. Reason: Virat Kohli.
The run-machine looked anything but pressurized. His eyes had the same passion that has given him the tag of the chase-master. With every reason to falter under pressure, Kohli held his nerve and played one of the more sensible innings of his career. Despite being under a run-a-ball, he didn’t play a rash stroke. Ran between the wickets hard and waited for the poor delivery to put it away. Textbook Cricket.
With every run, India’s hopes got stronger. Ravindra Jadeja at the other end was smart in rotating the strike and putting the odd ball away to release pressure. With a few emphatic blows to the fence, Virat Kohli got closer to that 49th ODI Hundred, with which he would equal his idol Sachin Tendulkar. But it was not to be. With 5 required both to win and for Kohli to get his hundred, Kohli mistimed one off Matt Henry and ended up skying it to Glenn Phillips at the midwicket fence.
A dejected & furious Kohli walked back to the dressing room, but not without the applause of 23,000 people around him. He had got the job done yet again. Pulling India out of a tough spot and getting them over the line. It isn’t the first time we’ve seen this, and it certainly isn’t the last. King Kohli is well and truly on his way to break that record, and the table toppers are well and truly on course to lifting this World Cup.
-Vibhor Dubey
The Average Cricketer 