India and New Zealand will contest the first semi-final of the 2023 Cricket World Cup. The Indians and New Zealanders ended the round-robin stage of the tournament in first and fourth position, respectively, to earn their semi-final berths. Here’s a preview of their clash:
India
India will go into this semi-final on the back of this month’s successive wins over Sri Lanka, South Africa and the Netherlands. They won all three of those matches after batting first. When India played New Zealand during the round-robin stage of this tournament, the hosts won after batting second.
India have three of the top eight run-scorers at the 2023 Cricket World Cup. Former captain Virat Kohli is the top run-scorer overall, with 594 in nine innings. Current captain Rohit Sharma has 503 in nine. Batter Shreyas Iyer has 421 in nine. That is significant collective dominance, indeed.
India also have three of the top eight wicket-takers at this tournament. Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has 17 wickets in nine innings. Fellow fast bowler Mohammed Shami has 16 in five. Spinner Ravindra Jadeja has 16 in nine. A bit further down the list, fast bowler Mohammed Siraj has 12 in nine.
India have won the Cricket World Cup title twice, but not once since 2011. They’re unbeaten, at home – and have several star players in fine form. This is effectively their match to lose against opposition who’ll be hard pressed to bounce back from a disappointing end to their round-robin campaign.
New Zealand
New Zealand should be grateful for collecting four wins reasonably early in their World Cup campaign because they late slipped to four successive defeats. Late victory over Sri Lanka, though, pushed them into the semi-final stage of the tournament against the outright title favourites.
Opener Rachin Ravindra and all-rounder Daryl Mitchell have been the Black Caps’ top run-scorers at the 2023 Cricket World Cup. Ravindra has 565 runs in nine innings to Mitchell’s 418 in eight – and has hit three centuries this tournament. The return to fitness of captain Kane Williamson is a big boost for the XI, too.
New Zealand’s top wicket-takers this tournament have been spinner Mitchell Santner and fast bowler Trent Boult. They have shared 29 wickets, while fast bowler Lockie Ferguson has taken 10. The absence of the fiery Matt Henry, though, can be a concern. He took 11 wickets before exiting the tournament injured.
The Black Caps have never won the Cricket World Cup. They lost the final in 2019. They lost the final in 2015. Let’s see if they can reach a third successive final. Their recent bilateral ODI series record against India is poor, but it only takes one win – in a major tournament – to right those wrongs.
