IND VS NZ - 21st Match, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023

India have made it 5 out of 5. So many headlines tomorrow across the Indian subcontinent will manoeuvre around this win. Kohli has become the toast of the nation once again. Few called him outdated now. Few felt he was past his prime. But the cliche goes like this - form is temporary but class is permanent! The man has shown his class throughout the campaign and again came to the party tonight. Even his recent nemesis, the SLAs didn't really bother him much. He kept finding a way out. Cricket is a bit of chess at times and Kohli knows a thing or two about winning mind games. On the occasion of the festive atmosphere, entire India is already draped in a festive fervour. Rohit and his boys have given more reasons to party. We aren't your usual party animals and we take your leave for the evening. Our team of MS Ramakrishnan, Nikhil Jadhav, Saurabh Shankar, Kumar Abhisekh Das and Harish had a gala time bringing this to you!!

Rohit Sharma: Good start to the tournament. Job is half done. Important to stay balanced. Not to think too far ahead. Important to stay in the present. Shami took the oppurtunity with both hands. He has the experience in these conditions and is a class bowler. At one stage, we were looking at 300 plus. Credit to our bowlers at the back end. I am enjoying my batting. Both are different personalities but we (Him and Gill) compliment each other. Happy that we won. Nothing much to say. He (Kohli) has done this for us so many years. He backed himself to do the job. Kohli and Jadeja pulled us back when we lost a few wickets in the middle. The fielding is something we pride ourselves on. Today the fielding wasn't clinical. Ravindra Jadeja is one of the best fielders in the world. These things happen. We know that fielding is something that will decide a lot of things going forward. We love travelling and playing in different parts of the game.

Tom Latham: We played reasonably well. We didn't quite capitalize in the last 10. We left a little out there. But credit to India. We weren't able to get the double breakthrough with the ball. Rachin and Mitchell had a fantastic partnership to set us up for the last 10. We have a perfect group. We want to be in those positions. Rachin with the bat, Daryl with the 100. The bowlers did well. He played a fantastic innings. He controlled the tempo for them for others to bat around him. Just try to be proactive and focus on the matchups a little. Another good innings from him. We have a few days off. We have a day game here. We want to do good stuff.

Mohammed Shami | Player of the Match: Got a lot of confidence after taking a wicket on the first ball. If your team mates are doing well, you should support them, it's important that the team performs well, I understand that. It was important to pick those late wickets, you always want your team to be the top side. Very happy that I got those wickets and India is on top of the table..

India will be glad that they have broken the NZ jinx. They were put to the litmus test. They have come out triumphs. That would please them. But they might as well rethink their strategy of 7 batters. Their 8-11 looks very thin and one more wicket today while chasing could have made it very tough for them to track it down. But how would India ignore Shami now? Can they keep him out of the 11 when Hardik comes back?

Jadeja Last 7 ODI innings vs NZ: 66*, 62*, 5, 77, 55, 8*, 39*

Jadeja vs New Zealand in ODIs:
Inns: 11
Runs: 361
Avg: 51.57
SR: 97.83
50s: 4
HS: 77

Highest partnerships for 6th wicket or below for India in WC
126* - Kapil Dev, Syed Kirmani vs ZIM, Tunbridge Wells, 1983
116 - MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja vs NZ, Manchester, 2019 SF
82* - Kapil Dev, Kiran More vs NZ, Bengaluru, 1987
78 - Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja vs NZ, Dharamsala, 2023
74* - Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina vs AUS, Ahmedabad, 2011 QF

Highest targets successfully chased by India in World Cups:
288 vs Zimbabwe, Auckland, 2015
275 vs Sri Lanka, Mumbai WS, 2011 Final
274 vs Pakistan, Centurion, 2003
274 vs New Zealand, Dharamsala, 2023
273 vs Afghanistan, Delhi, 2023

Most runs in ODIs
18426 - Sachin Tendulkar
14234 - Kumar Sangakkara
13704 - Ricky Ponting
13437 - Virat Kohli
13430 - Sanath Jayasuriya

What NZ could have done better? Their fifth bowling option looks a little thin. On helpful conditions, they can get away withe spinners like Ravindra and Phillips bowling crucial overs. But in conditions which are good for batting, NZ need to figure out another way. Boult and Henry were supposed to deliver early wickets but that didn't happen despite them teasing the edges at the start. Ferguson did pick a couple of wickets but even he would know that both the wickets were soft shots from Rohit and Gill. Even while batting, they left a few runs at the end. Mitchell did slow down for a brief moment before his hundred. Post his 100, he couldn't take off. What India could have done better? Their FIELDING. The catching was appalling. Even the ground fielding wasn't great. May be the outfield played a part. Kohli didn't take the single and got out with India needing 5 runs. He will get the benefit of the doubt given India needed only 5 runs. Rahul in the first game, Kohli against Bangladesh and today. The hundreds in WCs are cherished more. Hence, Indian players have gone a little hard for that.

22:13 Local Time, 16:43 GMT, 22:13 IST: Throw verbal stones at the man and he will convert them into milestones. Century number 49 couldn't be accomplished but India thanks to another fantastic knock from Kohli have chased down 274. They were tested by a side which was at the top of the table coming into this. But India have answered them back with a successful chase. Fifth successful run chase for India as well. Rohit, Gill, Iyer, Rahul all got starts but none converted them into anything substantial. Kohli dropped anchor and kept steering India to their target. He just never had to take the extra risk and played out his plan to the tee. SKY had to bear the brunt of some poor calling and was unfortunately run-out. But Kohli carried on unfazed. Jadeja came in and he played the perfect second fiddle to Kohli. Scored a few timely boundaries and took his team home. There were question marks on his batting but Jadeja has been in great form throughout this WC with almost everything now. He dropped a crucial catch but has made up for that tonight with his timely knock.

Matt Henry to Jadeja, FOUR, India win! Jadeja scores the winning runs. India make it 5 out of 5. This was a tough test and India pass this as well. They win against NZ for the first time since the 2003 World Cup. Rohit and Kohli hug it out. The emotions are high. Was a tough chase but they have managed to score them in the 48th over. Was a short ball, Jadeja managed to pull it and beat the dive from the man at deep square

Matt Henry to Shami, 1 run, four needed now. Angles in, Shami got it off the inside edge and sent it down to fine leg

Mohammed Shami, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Matt Henry to Kohli, out Caught by Glenn Phillips!! That's a disaster. India still need 5 runs. That was a slower delivery, Kohli wanted to heave it away but failed to clear the man at deep mid. Phillips would have taken that in his sleep. He should have taken the route along the ground. Rohit does a "Ah why didn't you play along the ground," gesture. Was at the sticks, in the slot but the bat face twisted and he only found the man at deep mid. End of a superb knock which has gotten India to the doorsteps on a famous win. Kohli c Glenn Phillips b Matt Henry 95(104) [4s-8 6s-2]

Matt Henry to Kohli, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Matt Henry to Kohli, no run, they don't run! Can't fathom! That was a short ball, pulled down to fine leg. They don't take the single

Matt Henry to Kohli, no run, and well stopped! The man at short third as Kohli squeezed the ball down to short third man

Matt Henry to Kohli, 2 runs, and on to 95. India need 5 more. Another masterclass from the King. Was a short ball, it got big on him and he couldn't control the pull. There was a top-edge and it landed in the square leg area. Those legs had enough steam and they came back for a brace