The ICC Cricket World Cup is in its final stage with the top four teams fighting it out for the ultimate glory. The remaining four teams are arguably the most well-rounded unit and have played some glorious cricket throughout the tournament. Now it all comes down to the knockout stage where teams can not afford any slip-ups as it would lead to them getting knocked out of the tournament. It all starts with the repeat of the 2019 semi-final between India and New Zealand. In this article, we will look at all the aspects of the match.
India
India has been playing exceptional cricket throughout the World Cup. Their batting is looking solid with the top five batters getting runs led by the two senior men of the side Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. After a long time, there is also a sense of calmness in the middle order with Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul prolonging the innings with their elegant stroke play.
If we talk about India’s bowling the bowlers are at the peak of their power with Bumrah and Siraj picking wickets with the new ball and Mohammed Shami along with the spin duo of Kuldeep and Jadeja rattling the stumps in the middle overs which has resulted in team India restricting the opposition to a low score in the first innings and while defending a total. Captain Rohit Sharma would hope that the team keeps up the good work against New Zealand.
New Zealand
New Zealand have been one of the most consistent team in ICC events having made the knockout stages of major tournaments like the T20 World Cup and ODI World Cup on a regular basis. The Kane Williamson-led side has also made it to the final of the last two editions of the ODI World Cup but hasn’t been able to cross the finish line on each instance which also includes their loss to England on the basis of superior boundary count in the 2019 World Cup.
Interestingly New Zealand’s journey in the ongoing World Cup is similar to the last edition where the team had a great start to the tournament and lost the momentum in the middle only to peak just at the right time to enter the knockouts courtesy of a good net run rate. The team personnel also is quite similar to the last edition where the batting was led by the top three. One of the major factors that makes New Zealand at par with India is their spin bowling department led by Mitchell Santner who is among the top wicket takers of the tournament. He along with Rachin Ravindra in the batting department are the two players that the Blackcaps would be banking on to give India a tough fight
Squads
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Prasidh Krishna, Suryakumar Yadav
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young
Playing XI
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah
New Zealand: Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson (c), Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult
Match Information
| Match | Semi Final 1 |
| Date | Wednesday, November 15, 2023 |
| Tournament | ICC Cricket World Cup, 2023 |
| Time | 2:00 PM IST |
| Venue | Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai |
India vs New Zealand key stats
India and New Zealand have faced each other in 117 ODI matches so far. India has won 59 matches, including 30 home wins while New Zealand has won 50 matches with 26 home wins. India and New Zealand have recorded 14 and 8 away wins respectively.
India has faced New Zealand 4 times till now in 2023 and won all 4 matches with a 100% success rate. They recently defeated the Kiwis in the group stage by 4 wickets.
The two teams have faced each other on 10 occasions in World Cups with New Zealand winning five of those matches while India registering four wins with one match getting washed out
Weather Report
Wankhede Stadium will witness 34°C temperature with 48% humidity. The average wind speed will be 14 km/hour. It is expected that the pitch will favor batters over bowlers.
Pitch Report
The pitch at the Wankhede stadium is an absolute belter for batting. Teams that bat first usually tend to get a score of around 320 with the ball coming onto the bat nicely. The red soil wicket assists the spinners as well as the fast bowlers with extra bounce. Teams generally elect to chase after winning the toss as ground dimensions and dew play a major factor while chasing
Players to Watch Out for
India: Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav
New Zealand: Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Trent Boult
IND vs NZ ODI Stats
| Stats | India | New Zealand |
| Highest Total | 392/4 | 349/9 |
| Lowest Total | 88 All Out | 79 All Out |
| Wins Batting 1st | 24 | 22 |
| Wins Chasing | 35 | 28 |
| Most Runs (All-Time) | Sachin Tendulkar (1750 runs) | Ross Taylor (1385 runs) |
| Most Runs (Current) | Virat Kohli (1528 runs) | Kane Williamson (1078 runs) |
| Highest scorer | Shubman Gill (208) | Tom Latham (145*) |
| Most wickets (All-Time) | Javagal Srinath (51 wickets) | Tim Southee (35 wickets) |
| Most wickets (Current) | Mohammed Shami (30 wickets) | Tim Southee (35 wickets) |
| Best Bowling | Amit Mishra (5/18) | Shane Bond (6/19) |
IND vs NZ Head to Head in ODI World Cup
| Stat | India | New Zealand |
| Won | 4 | 5 |
| Lost | 5 | 4 |
| Won Batting First | 1 | 1 |
| Won Chasing | 3 | 4 |
| Highest Total | 274 | 273 |
| Lowest Total | 182 | 146 |
India and New Zealand ODI Record in Mumbai
| Stat | India | New Zealand |
| Played | 21 | 3 |
| Won | 12 | 2 |
| Lost | 9 | 1 |
| Won Batting First | 5 | 1 |
| Won Chasing | 7 | 1 |
| Highest Total | 357 | 358 |
| Lowest Total | 165 | 153 |
India and New Zealand ODI World Cup Record
| Stat | India | New Zealand |
| Matches | 93 | 99 |
| Won | 62 | 59 |
| Lost | 29 | 39 |
| Tied | 1 | 0 |
| No Result | 1 | 1 |
| Won Batting First | 36 | 21 |
| Won Chasing | 26 | 38 |
| Highest Total | 413 | 401 |
| Lowest Total | 125 | 112 |
India vs New Zealand ODI Stats
| Most Runs (All-Time) | Sachin Tendulkar (2278 runs) | Kane Williamson (1098 runs) |
| Most Runs (Current) | Virat Kohli (1624 runs) | Kane Williamson (1098 runs) |
| Most wickets (All Time & Current) | Mohammed Shami (47 wickets) | Trent Boult (52 wickets) |
Last 5 Matches (most recent first) :
| IND – W W W W W |
| NZ – W L L L L |
Dream 11 Fantasy Team
| Keeper – KL Rahul |
| Batters – Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson, Shubman Gill, Daryl Mitchell |
| All-rounders – Ravindra Jadeja, Rachin Ravindra (VC) |
| Bowlers – Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult |
Match Result Prediction
We predict India to win the match
Top run-scorers at the 2023 Cricket World Cup
| 1. Virat Kohli (India) - 594 runs |
| 2. Quinton de Kock (South Africa) - 591 |
| 3. Rachin Ravindra (New Zealand) - 565 |
| 4. Rohit Sharma (India) - 503 |
| 5. David Warner (Australia) - 499 |
Top wicket-takers at the 2023 Cricket World Cup
| 1. Adam Zampa (Australia) - 22 wickets |
| 2. Dilshan Madushanka (Sri Lanka) - 21 |
| = 3. Gerald Coetzee (South Africa) - 18 |
| = 3. Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan) - 18 |
| = 5. Marco Jansen (South Africa) - 17 |
| = 5. Jasprit Bumrah (India) - 17 |
Image Credit: NDTVSports
