New Delhi : India broke the jinx and reached the final of the World Cup after a gap of 12 years. Team India beat New Zealand by 70 runs at the historic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in the first semi-final. India last made it to the final and won it in 2011. India reached the World Cup final, losing for the fourth time, winning two in 1983 and 2011 and losing one final in 2003.
For the last decade, India has lost eight semi-finals or finals in ICC events. Be it the World Cup semi-finals in 2015 and 2019, the T-20 World Cup final in 2014, the ICC Champion Trophy final in 2017, the T-20 World Cup semi-finals in 2016 and 2021, and the ICC Test Championship finals in 2019-21 and 2021-23 the final round of the ICC Test Championship in 2019-21 and 2021-23.
India won the toss and opted to bat first. Captain Rohit Shama took the lead right from the start and smashed the Kiwi bowlers out in the first over. Though he could not complete his half-century, he ensured a perfect start and troubled the Kiwi bowlers with his aggressive strokeplay, which helped the Indian batsman to not let the Kiwi bowlers settle down throughout the match.
Shubham Gill and Virat Kohli kept the run-rate high until Gill, who scored an unbeaten 80, got retired hurt. Later, shreyas Ayer came in and hit some massive boundaries, taking the pressure off Virat Kohli, who played an anchor role in the Indian innings. On the other hand, Virat was determined to help India score 397 against New Zealand, scored his 50th century and set a milestone by breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI hundreds. On the other hand, Sharays Ayyer scored his second consecutive century in this World Cup with his batting prowess and gave Team India the perfect platform to put a big result on the board.
Kohli and Ayer helped India reach a high total with their centuries, especially with Virat Kohli who broke Sachin Tendulkar’s record (49th century) and scored his 50th century. On the other hand, Shubham Gill scored an unbeaten 80 runs and KL Rahul scored 40 runs to help India reach 397 runs. After the batsmen, the Indian team dominated the bowling. Muhammad Shami picked up seven wickets and upset the Kiwi batsmen.
However, the Kiwi batsmen fought back valiantly, with Mitchell and his 181-run stand with Williamson in particular making life difficult for the Indians in the field. Shami took seven wickets, becoming the first bowler to take seven wickets in a World Cup semi-final.
He is also one of the best wicket-takers in this World Cup. Bumrah also bowled well and kept the Kiwi batsmen at bay. On the other hand, Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Siraj have also performed well to keep the Kiwi batsmen below 330 runs. India It was a cohesive team performance by the Indian team that helped India beat the mighty Kiwis in the semi-finals.  India will now contest the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday and will face the winner of the second semi-final final between Australia and South Africa.