Picture : ANI/ X
India warmed up the D- Day semis against New Zealand in style as they beat Netherlands by 160 runs to maintain an unbeaten record in the league games of CWC23 winning all nine.
Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat first Bengaluru. And the Indian openers were on song from the start. Skipper Rohit Sharma in attacking mood set the tone again with 61 ( 54 balls, 8 fours 2 sixes), fellow opener Shubman Gill too did not miss out 51 ( 32 balls, 3 fours, 4 sixes). After a watchful start , Virat Kohli changed gears to hit another fifty 51 ( 56 balls, 5 fours, 1 six). Shreayas Iyer joined the part and smashed a superb unbeaten 128 ( 94 balls, 11 fours, 5 sixes). K L Rahul was fluent yet again again and scored the fastest 100 in style off mere 62 balls. Rahul smashed 102 ( 64 balls, 10 fours, 4 sixes). India eventually finishing at a massive 410 / 4 in their 50 over. Suryakumar Yadav was not out 2
Dutch bowlers were sent on a leather hunt : Aryan Dutt 0/ 52 ( 7 overs), Logan van Beek 0/ 107 ( 10 overs), Colin Ackermann 0/ 25 ( 3 overs), Paul van Meekeren 1/ 90 ( 10 overs), Roelof van der Merwe 1/ 53 ( 10 overs), Bas de Leede 2/ 82 ( 10 overs)
Chasing a big Indian total was impossible, Yet the Dutch tried hard but that was simply not enough . Opener Wesley Barresi fell early for 4. Max ODowd ( 30), Colin Ackermann ( 35), Sybrand Engelbrecht ( 45), Skipper Scott Edwards ( 17), Bas de Leede ( 12), Teja Nidamanuru played an attacking 54 ( 39 balls, 1 four, 6 sixes), Logan van Beek ( 16), Roelof van der Merwe ( 16), Aryan Dutt ( 5) , Paul van Meekeren not out 3. The Dutch managed to stretch India till 47. 5 overs as they were bowled out for exactly 250. India winning by 160 runs.
For India : Jasprit Bumrah 2/ 33 ( 90vers), Mohammed Siraj 2/ 29 ( 6 overs), Mohammed Shami 0/ 41 ( 6 overs), Kuldeep Yadav 2/ 41 ( 10 overs), Ravindra Jadeja 2/ 49 ( 9 overs), Virat Kohli 1/ 13 ( 3 overs), Shubman Gill 0/11 ( 2 overs), Suryakumar Yadav 0/ 17 ( 2 overs), Rohit Sharma 1/ 7 ( 0.5 overs)
India now plas New Zealand in the semi-final number one against New Zealand on November 15 at Wankhede.
Match: World Cup 2023, 45th Match
Venue: Bengaluru | Date: November 12, 2023
