IND vs NZ, World Cup: India beat New Zealand for first time in ICC events since 2003

India continued their dominant march towards the semi-finals of the 2023 ICC World Cup with a four-wicket victory over New Zealand in Dharamsala on Sunday, snapping a two-decade jinx against a side considered to be their bogey team in ICC events.

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In a battle between the two remaining unbeaten teams of the ongoing tournament, Virat Kohli (95) and Mohammed Shami (5/54) shone with bat and ball respectively as the Men in Blue chased down the 274-run target set by the Black Caps at Dharamsala’s HPCA Stadium with two overs to spare.

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The win gave India their fifth victory in as many outings, greatly boosting their chances of reaching the World Cup semi-finals for fourth consecutive time, and allowed them to regain the top spot on the points table from New Zealand.

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The Kiwis, who had finished runners-up in the 2019 edition, suffered their first defeat of the tournament after four victories in a row, including a nine-wicket thrashing of defending champions England in the tournament opener in Ahmedabad.

It was also the first time India had defeated New Zealand in an ICC event since Sourav Ganguly and Co’s seven-wicket victory over the Stephen Fleming-led Kiwis in Centurion in the 2003 World Cup. India had bundled New Zealand out for 146 and chased the target down in a little 40 overs.

Since then, the Men in Blue would go on to lose three T20 World Cup matches (2007, 2016 and 2021) along with the 2019 ODI World Cup semi-final in Manchester.

Kohli aces another chase

Skipper Rohit Sharma and opening partner Shubman Gill got the Men in Blue off to a promising start in their chase of the 274-run target set by the Kiwis, adding 71 for the opening wicket. Rohit, however, would miss out on a half-century by a whisker for a second game running after chopping a slower delivery from Lockie Ferguson onto the middle stump to depart for 71.

Gill became Ferguson’s second victim in his very next over, uppercutting a short, wide delivery from the pacer to get caught by Daryl Mitchell at third man.

The in-form Kohli, however, managed to absorb the pressure and steady the ship for the Men in Blue just when the Black Caps were starting to mount a fightback with the two quick wickets.

Kohli, who had struck an unbeaten 103 against Bangladesh in Pune, got off the mark with a boundary off Ferguson but would display no hurry in collecting runs thereafter, allowing Indian No 4 Shreyas Iyer to play the aggressor and maintain a healthy scoring rate with a flurry of boundaries.

Former India captain Kohli would revive his team’s chances of chasing the successfully chasing the challenging target with successive fifty-plus partnerships with Iyer and KL Rahul respectively. Kohli was completely subdued during his 52-stand with Iyer, during which play had been called off temporarily due to fog at the HPCA Stadium, but began to gradually express himself and take centre-stage in the partnership with Rahul.

It began with a maximum off left-arm spinner Rachin Ravindra in the 29th over followed by a boundary off Matt Henry in the very next over to signal a shift in momentum.

India suffered another scare in their chase when Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav, also making his first appearance of the tournament alongside Shami, were dismissed in successive overs to leave India five down.

SKY, who couldn’t force his way into India’s first-choice ODI XI despite a superb run in the three-match ODI series against Australia, was run-out after a mix-up while calling for a single; he was halfway down the pitch after tapping the ball towards the covers before being sent back by Kohli.

India’s batting, however, hadn’t quite entered the tail at that point and Kohli found just the support he needed from Ravindra Jadeja at No 7. Jadeja, who had top-scored in the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand with a 59-ball 77, opened his account with back-to-back boundaries off Ferguson in the 36th over, taking India past the 200-mark that would give the Men in Blue a psychological edge.

The two would then stitch a 78-run partnership for the sixth wicket that would effectively seal the contest in the Men in Blue’s favour. Jadeja, though, got the honour of finishing the game for his team after Kohli was caught at cow corner while attempting to bring up his 49th ODI ton with a maximum off Matt Henry’s bowling.

Shami roars on comeback

Earlier Shami led the way with ball in hand, grabbing his third ODI five-for as well as his second in World Cups in as many editions as India bowled the Black Caps out for 273 after skipper Rohit opted to field.

Shami struck off his first delivery of the day after being introduced in the ninth over of the innings, with opener Will Young chopping the ball onto the stumps to depart for 17. His in-form partner Devon Conway had been dismissed for a nine-ball duck earlier in the fourth over off Mohammed Siraj’s bowling, thanks to an excellent catch by Iyer at square leg.

Shami would nearly have a second soon after, with Rachin Ravindra getting a lifeline on 12 after slicing the ball towards backward point, where Jadeja of all fielders ended up dropping a sitter.

Ravindra would make the Indians pay dearly for what would turn out to be the first of three dropped catches by adding another 63 to his tally and building a massive 159-run third-wicket stand with all-rounder Daryl Mitchell that had the Kiwis at one point eyeing a total in the range of 300 to 320.

Mitchell, who had struck an unbeaten 89 to guide the Black Caps to an eight-wicket victory over Bangladesh, would start running out of partners once Ravindra departed after holing out to Gill at long on off a slower delivery from Shami. The Black Caps would lose six wickets for just 30 runs in their last six overs as the Indian bowlers put up an admirable fightback in the business end of the innings.

Shami played a key role in that collapse, castling Mitchell Santner and Matt Henry in successive deliveries to be on a hat-trick and removing Mitchell in the penultimate delivery of the innings to complete his five-for. Ferguson was then run-out at the striker’s end in the final delivery of the innings as the Kiwis failed to go past the 280-mark in the end.

Brief Scores:

New Zealand 273 all out in 50 overs (Daryl Mitchell 130, Rachin Ravindra 75; Mohammed Shami 5/54) lost to India 274/6 in 48 overs (Virat Kohli 95, Rohit Sharma 46; Lockie Ferguson 2/63) by four wickets