Rohit Sharma-led India and Kane-Williamson-led New Zealand will play in the first semi-final of the ICC Men’s 2023 Cricket World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday (November 15).
It will be a rematch of the 2019 World Cup semi-final, when New Zealand beat India in Manchester, England. India have had a superb campaign at the 2023 World Cup, winning all their nine round-robin matches.
No one, especially if you’re an Indian cricket fan, can forget the night of July 10, 2019, when with a heartbreaking run-out of MS Dhoni, which also marked the great man’s last international appearance, India’s marauding World Cup campaign came to a screeching halt. They were the toppers at the conclusion of the league stage, having lost just the one game – to England – but as unfair as it was, India came short on the reserve day as ’40 minutes of bad cricket’ sent them crashing out. It was a blow to the gut and even Virat Kohli couldn’t hide his emotions in the press conference.
Four years later, as fate would have it, the two teams are back taking center-stage at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
Kiwis, meanwhile, ended their round-robin campaign with five wins and four losses. Virat Kohli, Rohit, and Shubman Gill are in excellent form from India, while Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul are also high on their respective tons in India’s last league match of the World Cup against Netherlands on Sunday.
Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Kuldeep Yadav have been bowling well and the batting-friendly pitch of the Wankhede Stadium will be their real test.
Cricket enthusiasts and Team India fans can watch the match on all Star Sports Network channels. The match will also be livestreamed on Disney+Hotstar app and website.
The toss will take place at 1:30 pm and the match will begin at 2 pm.
