New Zealand, who was in a tough spot before, are now into the finals of the ICC World Cup after their 18-run victory over India at Old Trafford.
Setting a chase target of 240 runs for India to make it to the Lord’s Matt Henry with his 3 wickets and Trent Boult with his 2 wickets reduced their hopes early only as they werer5 -3 after only 3.1 overs. India’s top batsmen such as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and KL Rahul were all sent back to the dressing room with mere 1 run.
Later on, by a staggering catch made by Jimmy Neesham with one hand caused the Idea to lose Dinesh Karthik and be at 24-4. These efforts of NE Zealand were further strengthened after Mitchell Santner got 2 more wickets while giving away 34 runs to let India stand at 92-6. By this time, the game was as good as over for India team.
Still, India’s hopes to win the match were given a straw in water like situation after Ravindra Jadeja scored 77 runs off of 59 balls to have a 116-run partnership with MS Dhoni.
Still, the New Zealand team held its composure as Boult dispatched Jadeja to the dressing room in the 48th over the delivery and martin Guptil ran out MS Dhoni in a superb direct hit during the 49th over as the Indian team was all bowled out at the score of 221 runs. With this, they have failed to secure their spot for the 2nd World Cup final in a row.
Earlier on Tuesday, the match had to be forced to strop on and moved to 2nd day with New Zealand still having 23 deliveries for its innings. The match resumed as Jadeja ran out Ross Taylor who scored 72 runs and then he ousted Tom Latham with a superb catch on the next ball. He was the main reason that black Caps could only add in 28 more runs to set the chase target of 239-8.
At this point in the game, India were the favorites but within the first 19 balls of their innings, the situation took a turn for worst for them and ultimately the whole team lost their composure on their way to a shocking defeat.
The second semi-finals match will be played between Australia and England at Edgbaston on Thursday.
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