New Delhi: The first semi-final of ICC Cricket World Cup is all set to kick off on Wednesday, with the hosts Team India and visitors New Zealand squaring off in a likely nail-biter face-off in Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium.
As the Men in Blue take on Kiwis in first semi-final clash of ODI World Cup, the home team will look to ‘banish the ghosts of 2019’ as it were the Kiwis who dashed India’s 2019 World Cup hopes by defeating it in the semi-final. While for the visitors, this will be their another chance to make it to the third consecutive World Cup final.
India’s campaign in 2023 World Cup has been terrific as it won all its league matches and are the table toppers while New Zealand managed to barely enter the Top 4 by winning its 5 out of 9 league matches.
In their previous league match encounter, India defeated New Zealand by 4 wickets. Virat Kohli’s knock of 95 runs and Mohammed Shami’s fifer helped India overpower the Kiwis.
India Vs New Zealand: Pitch Report
Wankhede stadium has hosted many World Cup matches here and the pitch has been batting friendly, with the batting side setting big targets here.
In the three league games this World Cup, the teams batting first have posted more than 350 runs on the scoreboard. South Africa almost breached 400 runs mark against England.
The average first inning score at this cricket pitch is about 323 runs. As per cricket experts, the team wining toss may opt to field first.
India Vs New Zealand: Fantasy Team
Batters: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Daryl Mitchell
Bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Trent Boult
All-rounders: Rachin Ravindra, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner
India Vs New Zealand: Top Picks
While both India and New Zealand have big pool of young & talented players, some noted ones will have the attention of audience as a solid innings from their bat will tilt the scales towards respective teams.
Rachin Ravindra
The young, energetic all-rounder from New Zealand is among the top-scorers in World Cup cricket 2023. He has amassed 565 runs so far, in 9 games with an average of 70.62. Hitting three centuries & 2 half-centuries, he is among the highest run-scorers of New Zealand, till date and is on brink of setting new record for the team.
Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli is the man to watch. His blistering knocks & boundaries have made his fans asking for more. He is just 6 runs away from scoring 600 runs in the World Cup and is only the third player to do so in the World Cup. He is on verge of breaking another record of his sporting icon Sachin Tendulkar, who hit a staggering 673 runs in the 2003 World Cup.
Shubman Gill
The young, dashing batsman of Team India has been a sensation. In a very small career, he has not just broken into ICC ODI rankings but is also setting new benchmarks. As he opens India’s innings at Wankhede stadium, all eyes would be on him & his batting.
INDIA
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, S Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), SA Yadav, RA Jadeja, M Shami, JJ Bumrah, KL Yadav, Mohammed Siraj
NEW ZEALAND
Kane Williamson (C), Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, DJ Mitchell, MS Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Tom Latham (wk), Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, LH Ferguson, Trent Boult