‘That was a heck of a game’ – Fans praise India as they trounce New Zealand in first semifinal of ODI WC 2023 by 70 runs

In the first semifinal of the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023, India and New Zealand locked horns at the Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai. Ahead of the game, the home side was unbeaten in the league stages with nine wins. On the other hand, the Blackcaps reached the semis thanks to their massive win against Sri Lanka. Also, they had started the tournament with four back-to-back wins.

Meanwhile, in this game, the Men In Blue won the toss and elected to bat first, expectedly. Both teams were looking to bat first. With the bat, once again the two-time winners were provided a great start by the opening pair of skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. They put together 71 runs in just 8.2 overs to lay a strong platform. Sharma scored 47 off 29 balls including four fours and as many sixes.

After his wicket, former India skipper Virat Kohli and Gill put together 93 runs before the latter was retired hurt after getting 79 runs. Shreyas Iyer came in and added another 163 with Kohli. Both batters scored individual hundreds and in the process, the former India skipper reached his 50th ODI hundred. With this, he went past Sachin Tendulkar’s 49 ODI hundreds.

Apart from this, KL Rahul (39*) played a cameo and helped the team reach 397/4. This is the highest team total in a World Event knockout that includes the ODI and T20 World Cups and the Champions Trophy.

New Zealand made a great comeback but India emerges as winners’ again!

In reply, the Kiwis had a poor start as they lost their openers Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra to Mohammed Shami. At 39/2, the likes of skipper Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell put together 181 runs for the fourth wicket. When the game looked like slipping away, Shami took the wickets of Williamson and Tom Latham in the 33rd over to change the game in their favor.

Despite the likes of Glenn Phillips and Mitchell (134) trying their best, the Indian bowlers managed to keep a tab on the scoring rate. In the end, Shami took seven wickets for 57 runs and the team won the game by 70 runs

This is how Twitter reacted

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