After a long winding league stage that saw 45 matches, the cricket world cup has reached its semifinal stage. Dubbed as the penultimate stage to glory, the semifinals are simply the do or die – you either perform or just perish. Cricket’s powerhouse India will take on New Zealand, which is known for punching above their weight in a mouth-watering semifinal clash today at Old Trafford. The two teams didn’t have a chance to faceoff in their league match which was washed away without a ball bowled.
Team India in this Cricket World Cup
Team India had a brilliant campaign in the league stages. Except for their lone loss against England, boys in blue have been clinical in all their matches winning 7 out of 9 matches in their campaign. Team India’s hitman Rohit Sharma is having the world cup of his life. With a record-breaking 5 centuries, Rohit Sharma is a top in the leading run-scorer list with 647 runs. Ably supported by his skipper Virat Kohli, who to his credit has 5 half centuries, Rohit has been responsible for most of India’s victory during the league stages. With his mentor’s record 673 runs in sight, Rohit would be aiming to break this in this match. Bumrah and company have been phenomenal with the ball chipping with wickets. However, the Indian team does need to address its shaky middle order as they might have some role to play in the near future.
New Zealand
The Blackcaps started well in this tournament with a series of victories. However, they slipped towards the end and are reeling under the backdrop of three successive defeats. Somehow they scampered their way to the semis on the basis of better Net run rate. The mainstay of their batting is their skipper Kane Williamson, who to his credit has close to 500 runs in this tournament. Other batsmen in their batsmen have failed miserably, not even showing a semblance of scoring huge knocks. The biggest strength of this New Zealand side is their sharp bowling attack and the performance of all-rounders like Jimmy Neesham and Colin De Grandhomme. Led by the veteran Trent Boult, the side is packed with pace bowlers who could bowl express quick like Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson. On their day, the New Zealand pace attack can rattle any quality batsmen.
With this being the case, this contest can be seen as India’s batting vs New Zealand’s express bowling. There can be very little doubt in the fact that India starts as favorites in this game given their recent form and quality of players. Also, India has the record of prevailing in the big games and New Zealand has chocked during the semifinals on multiple occasions. However, Virat’s men would be wary of Kane Williamson’s talent and the potential threat of the Kiwi Pacers. All said and done, this would be an exciting contest that would raise the heartbeat of cricket enthusiasts.
So who do you think would win this match would it be the fiery boys in blue or the calm and composed kiwis. Pick your team and participate in our Howzat tournament and World Cup Leaderboard race. Grab a chance to win huge prizes like Royal Enfield bike, Hyundai Venue, and other exciting prizes.
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