CWC2023: Shami , Kohli powers India to 4 wkt win over New Zealand, Mitchell 100 in vain

 

India after 20 years in ODI world cups finally managed to beat New Zealand to shoot up to the top of the points table in ODI World cup 2023 .  New Zealand  piled on 273 courtesy Darryl Mitchell's  brilliant 130 and in reply India won by 4 wickets with 12 balls to spare and Kohli icing another run chase .

Put in to bat , New Zealand  started poorly and were 19/2 with Conway (0) dismissed by Siraj  and Young (17) getting bowled  by Shami . However Rachin Ravindra and Darryl Mitchell got into a marathon 159 run stand for the 3rd wicket.  Both the batters showed their talent and class playing the Indian  bowlers with ease . Ravindra left handed elegance oozed class as he drove , flicked and lifted the bowlers with gay abandon . Mitchell on the other hand showed his talent and class with his array of strokes that included his dazzling  straight down the ground sixes with effortless ease . His backswing and timing looked so sublime that it was a treat for the eyes .

Finally the partnership broke when Ravindra (75) was caught by Gill in the deep off Shami but Mitchell went on relentlessly . However the Indian bowlers got into the act in the final 10 overs . Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Latham (5) lbw  and a scratchy Phillips (23) . Then Bumrah removed the dangerous Chapman (6) and finally Shami got into the act sending the  stumps flying of Santner and Henry off successive deliveries and finally Mitchell (130 off 127 balls) perished to a pull after hitting 9 fours and 5 sixes in his dazzling innings .  Shami took 5/54 as New Zealand scored 273 .

In reply India again went off to a blazing start with Rohit unfurling his great array of shots.  Rohit hit magnificent four lofted sixes and 4 fours but he was finally bowled by Fergusion for 46 in 40 balls as he played on. However the impetus he provided was going to make it easier  for the middle order to cooly chase down the score with a less challenging asking rate  . 

Gill after another promising start got out for 26 thus missing out on another big one and then Shreyas Iyer (33) got a fast start driving crisply and pulling  with conviction till he attempted one pull too often and was dismissed by Boult . Iyer needs to revisit his pull strategy to quick bowling and play more  selectively  as he will continue to get peppered by short balls since that is percieved to be his weakness  . 

Now it was upto Kohli and Rahul to close out the game and they looked in control but Santner against the run of play won a lbw decision vs Rahul ( 27) . Surya Kumar Yadav stepped in but was runout in a horrible misunderstanding with Kohli . It was basically Kohli's fault that he didnt respond to Surya call and  Surya (2) almost reached Kohli's end and therefore had no chance to save himself . It was 191/5 and New Zealand was back in it .

However Kohli kept his calm along with Jadeja as both ran hard and got the boundaries when needed . They had a 78 run stand before Kohli with 5 required to win tried to complete his 100 with a 6 but was caught by Phillips off Henry for 95 .  Jadeja (39*)  completed  the win soon after as New Zealand  lost by 4 wickets and India completed only their 4th win over New Zealand in ODI World cup history  .  Shami for his brilliant bowling was the player of the match .

India had a lot of positives to take from this game.  Shami's bowling , Jadeja's batting  were the greatest gains while Rohit continued to flourish and Kohli provided the assurance that India so dearly require in the middle order . However more output is expected from Shreyas and Gill than just brief cameos as India continued to stay unbeaten in the mega event. 

As for New Zealand, their inability to drive home a great foundation they had in their batting innings will hurt them . They fell at least 30 short .