Record-breaking Virat Kohli drives India past New Zealand and into World Cup final

India captain Rohit Sharma: “I have played a lot of cricket here so I know with any score on this ground you cannot relax. Get the job done as quickly as possible and stay at. We knew there would be pressure on us at some stage, a partnership. We just had to stay collected. That’s what we did. We were very calm even though we were sloppy in the field. That can happen.

“We have had nine perfect games on the field in terms of fielding so these things were bound to happen. I am glad we got the job done in the end. Would 20 or 30 runs fewer have made a difference? It’s hard to say that because they wouldn’t take as many risks. When the scoring rate is about nine all the time you have to take you chances. Sometimes it comes off, sometimes it doesn’t.

“We gave them chances they didn’t taken them. But credit to them with the batting. Daryl Mitchell and Kane Wiliamson batted brilliantly. For us it was important to stay calm. At one point the crowd went silent but that’s the nature of the game. We knew we had to pull something from up our sleeves. A bit of magic. A run out, a catch or a magic delivery. We tried everything and Mohammed Shami was brilliant.”

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson: “Firstly, congratulations to India. They’ve played outstandingly well throughout this competition and perhaps played their best game of the competition today.

“They’re a top side at the top of their game, so at the halfway stage, with 400 on the board, it was naturally going to be tough.

“But credit to the guys. Proud effort to stay in the fight and, at the halfway stage of the innings, give ourselves some hope and a bit of a chance.

“A tough game, disappointing to go out in the knockout stages but super proud of the effort that has gone into these seven weeks as a side.

“The effort was there and India are a top-class side with some world-class batsmen. They came out and didn’t give us a sniff really. If you bat first and get 400 on the board, it’s a tick in the batting column and you go out and try to do a job in the second half.

“It was tough out there, the ball swung a lot initially so we had to work pretty hard. But credit to India, they deserve where they are.”

On partnership with Daryl Mitchell: “It wasn’t to be today but it was nice to be out there and give us a chance. You need a lot to go your way if you’re chasing a total like that but a fantastic crowd and an unbelievable atmosphere.

“Slightly one-sided in their support but special to be a part of.”

A quick word for New Zealand, who despite being beaten by a better side today have played some great cricket throughout the tournament. If you did not know how good Daryl Mitchell was you certainly do now and Rachin Ravindra has shown he is one of the coming powers in the game.

In truth though, three sides have soundly beaten them at this tournament: India, Australia and South Africa – the only sides still standing.

“I was waiting for my chances. I didn’t play a lot of white-ball cricket. My return started against New Zealand in the group stage. We talk a lot of variations, but I still believe in pitching it up and getting wickets with the new ball. I dropped a catch for Kane Williamson, I shouldn’t have. I felt terrible. But the focus was to try and take pace off, see if they’re hitting it in the air.

“The wicket was very good, lots of runs were scored in the afternoon. There was some fear of dew, the grass had been shaved off from the wicket. If dew was there, it skids on and there’s a chance runs could’ve been made. It feels amazing.

“Last two World Cups, we lost in the semis. Who knows when or if we’ll get a chance, so we wanted to do everything for this, one chance we didn’t want to let go.”
 

Mohammed Shami overtook Adam Zampa in this match to become the leading wicket taker of the tournament for far. The remarkable thing is that he did not play in the first in the first four games and has taken his 23 wickets at an average of 9.13. 

Player of the match Mohammed Shami is being interviewed at present but his responses are all in Hindi. Alas, my linguistic skills do no styretch that far but we will bring you a translation shortly.

Where to start with that performance from India? Gill and Sharma up front, Kohli and Iyer with marvellous hundreds followed by Shami’s remarkable display with the ball. That was as a brilliant ODI display in a game of this magnitude. And the scary part is it’s easy to argue they were still some way short of their best. The pressure does not seem to be getting to this side at all. In fact, the weight of a nation appears to have spurred them on even more.

Could any eleven, composed of players from the other nine countries, have chased down India’s 397 on this pitch? Quinton de Kock, David Warner or Rachin Ravindra, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Daryl Mitchell, Heinrich Klaasen…. No, probably not. NB no England batting candidates. 

Seven from Mohammed Shami. Incredible bowling from him. New Zealand gave it a good go but they have been beaten by a better side today. 

Tim Southee c Rahul b Mohammed Shami 9

Six for Shami! Easy catch for Rahul behind the stumps after a genuine edge. FOW: 321/9

Siraj was delighted to pick up that wicket and you have to say he probably deserved one. He did plenty of the hard graft in the middle overs with those wide yorkers.

Mitchell Santner c Sharma b Mohammed Siraj 8

This time Sharma hangs on. The slower ball deceives Santner, whose attempted pull lofts high into the leg side. Easy catch. India two wickets away from the World Cup final. FOW: 319/8

Bumrah is back as India looks to polish this game off in a professional manner. Southee plays an ugly shot outside off stump. It should be an easy catch for Rohit but he appears to lose the ball in the floodlights and in the end makes a bit of a hash of it. 

Brilliant, brilliant over again from Shami. A wicket and just two runs from it. If India weren’t already in the final before that over. They certainly are now. 

Daryl Mitchell c Jadeja b Mohammed Shami 134

Game over. It’s five for Shami, three catches for Jadeja and another World Cup final for India. What a marvellous knock from Daryl Mitchell though. Her carried his side as far as he could but ultimately this was just too many runs to chase. FOW: 306/7

Bumrah is pulling out all the tricks now to keep the New Zealand batsman out of kilter, and it’s working. Even Mitchell looks to be struggling to find his range despite being 133 not out. 

Mitchell picks up a single off the penultimate delivery before Santner knocks a decent two into the leg side. Mitchell will be on strike for the start of the 46th.

We’re into Glen Maxwell territory here for Mitchell. Miracle needed. 

Mark Chapman c Jadeja b Kuldeep Yadav 2

Jadeja again on the boundary...Chapman sweeps hard and makes good contact but not good enough to get it over the head of Jadeja at sqaure leg. FOW: 298/6

Mark Champan is the new batter. This is all on Daryl Mitchell now. 

Glenn Phillips c Jadeja b Bumrah 41

Curtains?

Phillips looks to take Bumrah on but is deceived by the slower ball and sends the ball high into the sky. Jadeja is underneath it at long off and he makes no mistake. FOW: 295/5

Right, this could be key. Kuldeep back into the attack. New Zealand will go after him but can he pick up a wicket. A couple of singles from the first three balls before Kuldeep draws a false sweep from Mitchell with a clever delivery that just slides across him. Two from the over...what a superb over from Kuldeep. 

Really good from Siraj again. Wide, quick and impossible to get away cleanly, even more a man on 126 not out like Mitchell. Siraj then gets it just a shade wrong and Glen Phillips cashes in with a six over point. He follows that with another six! This time over long-off. The four more....crashes through point for a boundary.

Marvellous from Phillips. A nervous hush settles over the Wankhede.

Shami is taking the same approach as Siraj by coming round the wicket to Mitchell. After a single, Phllips tries to pick Shami up off a length but he has not found his range quite yet plays and misses. 

Mitchell plays a delightful scooped sweep, using the pace to lift the ball over both the man at short fine leg and the boundary for a maximum. 

Phillips tries to guide one past the man at short third-man but Kuldeep does well to stop the boundary. Phillips goes hard outside off stump this time and gets a flyer off his outside edge that gives Kuldeep no chance. Four more. 

Siraj goes for the same wide yorker from round the wicket but this time Mitchell gets a bit more bat on it, enough to get it past the man at deep cover for four. 

Jadeja has a great chance to run Mitchell out but misses – uncharacteristically. Let off for Mitchell.

Shami goes yorker to Mitchell, who does well to dig it out and get back for the single. Phillips, you feel, needs to free his arms before long. The rate is going to get too much unless the shackles come off.

Mitchell does his bit, pumping Shami back over his head for a mighty six before drilling a full toss so straight that it crashes into the stumps at the non-striker’s end. 

Curious to see Siraj come round the wicket to the right-handed Mitchell here. he goes for the wide yorker, which has Mitchell reaching wide outside off stump. Really good strategy if Siraj can execute the delivery. Very small margin for error. 

Three dots in row as Siraj hits his mark perfectly. This has Mitchell, for the minute at least, somewhat bamboozled. Mitchell does squirt one out through point for a single before Phillips rushes back for a couple after pushing one out through cover. 

Mitchell made his Test debut in December 2019 against England at Hamilton as a medium paced all rounder and looked exactly like one. In four years he has become one of the very best Test (average 57) and white-ball batsmen in the world. Some progress. 

Mitchell gets through for a quick single but then collapses at the non-striker’s end with cramps. There’s a small pause for him to get treatment and take on some fluids...the running ain’t over yet that’s for sure. 

Phillips smashes one behind square on the off side and picks up a boundary. I can not over emphasise how quiet the crowd was as that ball hit the boundary rope.

Mitchell will know now that this run chase rests nearly entirely on his shoulders. He goes game over but not go quick enough and the required rate will get out of control. 

Shami throws in a slower delivery which deceives Mitchell, who is far too early on it and lucky that his stumps stay intact. Phillips times a cover drive but turns away in disgust as it heads as the fielder rather than a gap.

Mitchell gets off strike straight away and Sharma leaves a slip in for the new man Glenn Phllips. Blood in the water for India and Jadeja here. Phillips plays out the over, just one from it as India turn the screw. 

Shami will continue...

What an over. Mitchell moves to a hundred before Shami takes two wickets. That feels like the turning point.

Tom Latham LBW Mohammed Shami 0

It’s that man again...

Latham’s miserable tournament continues. The ball barely does anything but it is well-directed by Shami towards Latham’s pads. The New Zealand keeper plays all around it and it’s given out. FOW: 220/4 

Kane Williamson c Yadav b Mohammed Shami 69

Delerium at Wankhede...

Shami pushes one slightly leg side and Williamson goes after it. Initially you think he’s got enough of it to carry the boundary but it dies short, where Yadav is waiting to take it gladly. FOW: 220/3

Mitchell moves to a remarkable 100 with a simple dab into the leg side. His second of the tournament but his work is far from done yet.

Williamson squeezes it past cover. He wants two but is sent back by Mitchell – perhaps he’s just looking to save his legs a touch here. Jadeja on the mark, getting one to turn almost square with Mitchell nowhere near it. 

Mitchell then gives himself room and prods one out to deep cover to move to 99 before Williamson finds another boundary into the leg side.

New Zealand need 179 from 18 overs.

Rohit Sharma has the Indians in for a huddle during the drinks break. The gravity of the next ten overs is not lost on him.

What a shot from Daryl Mitchell. Bumrah charges in and Mitchell lifts it, beautifully, over extra cover for six. Stunning shot. Mitchell and Williamson then exchange singles before Mitchell moves to 98 with a nice clip out to deep mid-wicket. 

Glorious from Williamson to end of the over, crashing Bumrah through straightish extra cover for four.

Mitchell rocks back and hoicks it, one-handed, out to deep-wicket for a single. What a superb effort this has been from these two so far. Williamson then gets down one one knee and sweeps Kuldeep hard. It’s superbly timed and beats the man on the boundary for four more. 

Now it’s Mitchell’s turn, reverse-sweeping superbly and getting it past Jadeja and backward point. 11 from the over.

Bumrah resumes with a slower ball that Williamson eases to cover for a single. Jasprit opts for pace off again and Mitchell plays his pick up shot but is on it too quickly and loses his bottom hand. No matter there’s no one out at deep forward square so the ball eludes all fielders and goes over for a one-bounce four.

Outstanding diving stop from Jadeja at point stops a flashing square cut and saves three runs.

And then Mohammed Shami shells a dolly at mid-on from Williamson, his hands pointing upwards as the ball dipped. They run a single. That’s me done.   

Tom Ward will take you through to the end of the match with NZ needing 210 off 21 overs. 

Mitchell sweeps orthodox style for two then cuffs the next ball, reverse mode, for four fine of short third man. Kuldeep keeps him quiet with four dot balls to end the over but NZ have been as good as we could have hoped in our wildest neutral dreams to make it to 180 for two, with 218 needed from 132 balls.

Time for Bumrah to return. 

Mitchell reads Jadeja’s quicker ball and knows it won’t turn so lofts it 107m over long on to strike the longest six of the tournament to date into the fascia of the roof. It’s like someone has hit the mute button. The crowd is getting more than a little spooked. 

Williamson drives down to long on for a single and to long off for another to reach his half-century. Mitchell, trying to impart a touch of pongo, skips down and cloths a lofted drive off the toe about 5m short of long on. They run a single and then Williamson misjudges a leg-break for a googly and almost drags on after the ball rags into him from off stump. He was trying to cut it but the ball struck the bottom edge and whistled past the stumps. 

For the first time in the tournament India’s left-arm spin twins are being attacked and Mitchell middles a drive with a full swing down from a high backlift that takes the bat through 270 degrees until it’s up by his shoulder. It’s his third six and, after a couple of singles, Mitchell whisks two off his toes through midwicket. 

Huge ripping leg-break from Kuldeep pins Williamson but the ball did too much and was arrowing down leg. Two balls later he traps him on the pad again as Williamson misses his sweep but that one pitched outside off. Living dangerously when facing the spinners but still there. 

India are rattled a bit, Jadeja petulantly hurling the ball back after a Williamson defensive and slapping both palms on to his knees when it flies past Rahul for four buzzers. Daft. Before that Mitchell ran a single to raise a fifty off a Jadeja fumble and shared another two singles with his captain. Three off the over before the red mist descended and cost him four overthrows and he cannot meet his captain’s gaze, for fear of being turned into stone. 

Williamson’s turn to take on Kuldeep who uses the length to lap a sweep for two and then the line to hammer a cut to the rope at cover. New Zealand have scaled one col but they still have monstrous peaks to scale. 

Mitchell is pinned and Jadeja turns to beseech the umpire to raise his finger but Illingworth keeps it holstered as the ball hit him outside the line of off and was missing anyway. Mitchell then chips a drive just out of Jadeja’s reach as he dived and tried to swallow it in his Venus fly-trap mitts. They run a single and Williamson adds another with a sweep before Mitchell strides down and dumps a drive into tier three at long on. 

Time for another filthy Rohit look for a misfield when the ball carroms through Bumrah’s hands at backward point and races down for four. Kuldeep is bowling flat to stop them getting under his trajectory to swing hard off the tee but he still managed to get it away for a boundary and a single to midwicket.   

Jadeja replaces Shami after a one-over spell and slams the brakes on. Williamson works the ball against the turn through midwicket for a single, Mitchell reverse sweeps for two and then waits for the gentle turn to pat a single to cover. 

Kuldeep gives Shreyas a bowel-shrivelling stare when he dives at backward square leg to try to stop Williamson’s pull. The Kiwi captain had nailed Kuldeep’s drag down but Iyer got there with outstretched hand until his knee hit the turf, stuck and caused him to lose the ball under his arm before it kissed the rope.

India send a turned-down leg-before shout when Williamson is pinned on the knee roll by the left-armer’s leg-break. They discuss their options and say ‘Umpire’s call at worst’ and so it proved. Not out.

As it is when Williamson has a brain fade when sent back and dallies on his way back to the popping crease. he thought he was out but he was reprieved because Rahul broke the stumps with his gloves before the ball thrown by Bumrah from point hit them. 

Four leg byes also off an eventful over which looked more like byes when the ball scuttled under the sweep and beat Rahul, too. 

John Mitchell’s lad, Daryl, continues his two-year golden run by pumping Mohammed Shami back over his head for six to quieten the crowd and bring the requirement under 300. Two balls late Shami again goes for good length outside off and Mitchell creams an off drive for four with the sweetest of connections, elbow as high as an elephant’s eye. 

Thanks to Tom Ward for covering the first 15 overs of NZ’s reply which has left them requiring 311 from 210 balls at 8.88 an over.

Here comes Kuldeep for the first post-drinks over. Williamson works a single off his pads and Mitchell goes down early to sweep the leg break hard and square for a single. After the captain, Mitchell sweeps again but this time fine for two and, for a third time, paddles another single.

In other news Babar Azam has resigned as captain of Pakistan in all three formats but will continue to play.

Siraj has Willamson rushing and draws a top edge from the New Zealand captain. The ball flies high into the sky and carries all the way for six, virtually behind the wicket keeper’s head. Mitchell knocks one down the ground for a single before Williamson gets another stroke of luck as an inside edge flies past Rahul for four. 

Jadeja continues and Mitchell gets a little fortunate and the ball drips a touch, throwing off his timing. He‘s lucky that the ball loops to empty space rather than an Indian fielder. Really good over from Jadeja – just two from it.

Mohammad Shami is a terrific bowler with his outswinger and occasional nip-backer. His trajectory reminds me of someone… and I reckon it is Fred Trueman. 

Mitchell tries to pull Siraj off length but is beaten. So is Rahul as the ball nips off Mitchell’s back pad for a boundary. Williamson then gives himself room outside off stump and splays one through wide third man for four. This has been a decent little period for New Zealand.

Jadeja is on. Feels like a good move from Sharma. He’ll want the spinners to have a go before the dew starts to settle. Mitchell goes for a reverse sweep but gets it wrong and sees the ball canon off his arm to the man at slip. Rahul immediately advises Sharma not to review. 

Mitchell gets a little tickle on one down the leg side and picks up four before Williamson punches a single out to the man at deep cover.

Siraj replaces Bumrah with New Zealand having scored just seven runs off the last 17 balls. Mitchell looks to address that and does so with a nice lofted drive over cover for four. Siraj then drops short and Mitchell quickly picks up the length, rocking back and pulling powerful behind square for four.

Mitchell tries to push Shami down the ground but there’s enough movement to send the ball cannoning into his pads off an inside edge. An attempted in-swinger moves a long way, even after it’s gone past the batter, and beats KL Rahul. Extras proving invaluable for New Zealand at the moment.

Mitchell looks to nick a quick single, and does so even after a direct hit from the man at mid-on.

Bumrah is just starting to find something here. Nip off the pitch and hint in the air. This is really, really tough for New Zealand right now. The ball is talking under the lights once again at the Wankhede and even if they get through this period without losing any more wickets, the rate is already rising fast.

What an over from Shami. Daryl Mitchell is the new man. One of these two needs to get three figures for New Zealand to have any chance in this game you feel. 

Rachin Ravindra c Rahul b Mohammed Shami 13 

Ravindra thumps a boundary but his innings is now over. It’s beautiful from Shami, he’s pounding the length just outside the off stump and this time Ravindra does nick it. Easy catch for Rahul. FOW: 39/2

Sharma is giving Bumrah every chance to find his rhythm and on the evidence of the first few balls of this over that could be a good decision. There’s plenty of movement for him here if he can find the right zone. 

Rahul and the two slips are convinced Bumrah has Williamson caught behind but that looks to have clipped his back pad. Sharma opts not to review – smart decision.

There’s plenty of movement for Shami in this first over. He’s got it moving away from both right and left-handers. The new man Williamson is watchful initially, leaving twice before getting in behind one in a convincing defensive manner. The atmosphere inside the Wankhede is deafening but they are momentarily quietened as Williamson leans on a square drive for a boundary. 

Devon Conway c Rahul b Mohammed Shami 13 

Shami into the attack with a bang! Conway just feels for one outside his off stump and gets a thin edge. There’s still plenty of work for KL Rahul to do and he does it superbly, diving to his left to take the catch. FOW: 30/1

Every time the ball even comes close to a New Zealand pad the entire Wankhede Stadium is up appealing. To their credit, the Indian bowlers and fielders are not being quite as eager. 

Back-to-back wides from Bumrah, the second of which beats KL Rahul behind the stumps and races away for a boundary. Odd to see the Indian quick looking so off his mark. 

Ravindra gets a tiny inside edge on a wicked in-swinger from Bumrah – that would have clean bowled him had he not got something on it.

Excellent contest between Siraj and Ravindra, with the New Zealand opener looking up to the challenge early on. Conway sends Ravindra back as the latter looks to hare off for a quick single. No way there was a run there. 

Siraj draws a false shot from Ravindra as he gets one to slide across the left-hander but then disappears for a boundary behind square on the leg side. 

Really, really good cricket out there.

Conway is beaten by a beauty from Bumrah. Just enough movement to draw the batsman into a false shot. A couple of wides follow though. Bumrah hasn’t quite hit his strap early on here. Normally that means he’ll exit this first spell taking the opponent’s entire top order with him...

Bumrah comes round the wicket and looks immediately more threatening, angling the ball into Conway, who gets fortunate as an inside edge misses his leg stump. Too much width from Bumrah to follow and Conway cashes in through cover for four.

Mohammed Siraj takes the new ball from the other end with Rachin Ravindra in his sights. Decent early pace from the Indian right-armer but Ravindra looks comfortable early on, punching cleanly to the man at mid-off.

Siraj is just getting a shade of movement back into the left-handed Ravindra. New Zealadn are going to have to be very watchful in this opening 10 overs with the ball likely to move under the lights. 

Ravindra gets off the mark after an unconvincing prod outside the off stump races away for four.

Devon Conway smashes the first ball from Jasprit Bumrah though point for four. What a start for New Zealand. A sign of things to come? We shall see. The third ball is a carbon-copy as Conway leans on one with a bit of width to pick up his second boundary.

Again, the great man [Sachin Tendulkar] just congratulated me. Honestly, this all feels like a dream. It’s too good to be true, it feels surreal. I never thought I’d be here, ever, in my career.

I had to play the role I’ve had throughout the tournament, batting long so that the guys around me can express themselves in the knowledge that I’ll be there in the later overs when I can dominate with the bat as well.

The most important thing for me is to make my team win, and I’ll do whatever it takes to achieve that.

It’s very difficult for me to explain this. But if I could paint a perfect picture, this would be it. My life partner, the person I love the most, she’s sitting there. My hero, he’s sitting there. And I was able to get to 50 in front of them and all these fans at such an historic venue. It was amazing.

It was a perfect batting performance from us, but only one half of the job is done.

Astounding batting from Rohit, Gill, Kohli and Iyer gave India such forward momentum throughout that they utterly marmalised a frankly poor New Zealand attack. They put their bodies on the line in stifling heat but their minds must be as shredded as their muscles and can’t be in any fit state to chase convincingly. Having said that, Rachin has all the tools to be an all-time great and Williamson already is one. 

Gill returns to add a single to his not out score and Rahul ends the innings by walloping six over long on, pulling four behind square and slicing a cut shot high over point for four more to take India to the highest ever total in a World Cup knockout match. Amazing hitting as well as some classy batting. Poor Southee who gave his all ends with 10-0-100-3.

Rahul’s 39 came off 20 balls, India made 110 off the last 10. 

Suryakumar c Phillips b Southee 1  Slow, short and outside off, forcing the new batsman to fetch it and he flaps it to cow corner where Phillips hangs on with his wrists hugging the ball to his body after making a mess of his hand placement.  FOW 382/4

Rahul’s eyes widen when Boult doesn’t land the yorker and he swipes the low full toss over long on for six. The next ball is another attempted yorker but this one is overpitched and Rahul slices his drive behind point for four.

After Iyer clubs a boundary through long on he is done by the slow, wide cutter and ladles it to long on. 

Iyer c Mitchell b Boult 105  Big swat spooned to long on as he tries to keep the onslaught advancing to the death.  FOW 381/3

Back-to-back hundreds for Shreyas Iyer after reading Southee’s intentions and pasting the slower ball over midwicket for six followed by the single to long-on that makes it a 67-ball ton. Rahul swipes one away off the inside edge for a single, Shreyas cuffs the bouncer for a single and Rahul paddles for two before cutting for one. No respite for poor Southee who ahs been forced to bowl four overs  at the death by Ferguson’s injury and initial waywardness. 9-0-85-2 don’t reflect his effort and heart.  

Boult is back for the first of two overs at the death and Rahul carves a cut past point for four off his slow, shortish cutter. Boult follows it up with a yorker that beats KL and another which doesn’t land and hits his pad as he tried to flick it. A half-hearted appeal for leg-before but it was angled so far across that it would have missed a second set of stumps. 

It never rains ... Rahul pulls Southee for four and Conway’s knee seems to plug in the turf as he scrambled to stop it. He looks in real pain but eventually gets up. There has to be a different way to dive. Southee ends the over by hitting Rahul amidships with a slow bouncer that has him doubled up and breathing hard. Don’t rub ’em, count ’em.

Shreyas Iyer has such power and such a booming swing that he bookends Rvindra’s seventh over by lamping him for a pair of sixes hit into the second tier at long off. No wonder when Iyer gave KL the strike with a cut carved yo point, he gives it straight back to him via a punch to cover for a walked single.  Seven sixes for Iyer to go with three fours. 

It is the hungry desire and physical fitness of Virat Kohli that stand out for me, after he has posted 50 ODI hundreds. Compare him with Joe Root who is younger, and who was equally successful in ODIs, but seems to have lost some of that hunger. Kohli has never given up orthodoxy in favour of funky shots. He has always been content with taking the single down the ground. In an DI in India his innings have a Bradmanesque inevitability. 

Phillips drops Kohli at cow corner. He ran in and dived by he couldn’t cling on as his knuckles graze the turf. Kohli and Southee are good friends but that doesn’t stop him adding insult to injury after running two by pulling the next ball that sticks in the pitch way over Phillips’ head for six. Kohli walks down and flicks two down to Phillips, cruelly follwoing him, but finally holes out next ball. 

He departs to a standing ovation. Cometh the hour ...

Kohli c Conway b Southee 117  Dropped three balls before at midwicket, Kohli holes out to square leg who takes a good, diving catch off the walking flick.  FOW 327/2

Here’s how he became the record breaker. Cue Roy Castle and his trumpet:

Ravindra continues and Iyer, hatless, mows him over long on for six, gorging on the shorter length to cart him just over the rope. Ferguson gave chase but his leg has stiffened up, too, after his calf injury and he can’t get there. Simon Doull reckons he won’t be able to bowl again either. By trying to keep it out of Iyer’s range he twice errs beyond the blue line outside off and two wides go on to the score to add to three further milked singles. 

Ferguson goes short and Iyer short-arm pulls it to long on for a single and then uses the same cramped shot to earn another to square leg after Kohli swipes the slower ball off the inside edge for a single.

Kohli, back on strike, flicks a full ball off middle for two behind square to bring up a record 50th ODI century to beat the 49 he shared with Sachin. Fifty! Ridiculous. They wrote him off after 2021. 

He celebrates like a man who is both proud and relieved. Don’t call this a comeback. He’s been here for years. Mama says knock you out ... the last ball of the over is charged and lamped over midwicket for four.

Rachin Ravindra starts the final Powerplay. India are going on to make a towering total but not as daunting as it could have been had they not been hobbled by cramp. Fine over from the all-rounder who goes for five singles but at this stage that’s a win. 

Latham thought he had feathered it while trying to cut but there was nothing on Ultra-edge. 

Iyer c Latham b Ravindra

Shreyas rolls his wrists on a pull off Ferguson’s cutter for a single and then whisks a straighter, fuller one, through midwicket for four. Kohli works two singles through the onside, the second of them a but tight, and he stumbles and loses his footing with his dodgy hammy as he makes his ground. 

Kohli takes time to adjust to the stiffness in his leg after treatment and finds it difficult to time his shots off Santner’s last over. They take a single apiece but he suddenly looks vulnerable, slicing a couple of drives off big-turners uppishly but short of men in the offside ring. 

Kohli has an attack of Maxwellite tin leg syndrome, mercifully only to one leg (a uni-cramper), when the back of his right thigh cramps midway through a pull off Boult for a single. Short balls and yorkers keep the pair down to five singles before the physio races on to try to ease Kohli’s hamstring. 

Shubman Gill has put his pads back on and is sitting in the dug out. Must have been cramp, then, rather than a pulled hamstring. Iyer brings up his fourth score of 50+ in succession when he chops Santner down to the point sweeper for a single and Santner keeps them down to four more singles. Santner has 9-1-49-0 but no one else even flirts with respectability. 

Trent Boult comes back in another thankless role in the 30-40 over pre-carnage carnage slot. Kohli rolls his wrists on a pull to collar it for four then takes a single off an inside edge. Iyer picks the slower ball and slams it over the bowler’s head for a steepling six then harpoons a square drive for four. Brutal.  

A maiden for Santner. Remarkable. Uses flight to keep Iyer, nemesis of spin, uncharacteristically quiet. It won’t last. 

Iyer absolutely marmalises Iyer, dumping him back over his hand and into the upper tier for six. The ball before Kohli tucked a single off Phillips off his pads which took him past Sachin’s 673 from South Africa 2003 and made him the highest scorer in a single World Cup campaign. 

If Virat Kohli wants a compliment – not that he will ever be short of one – it should be that word by Sir Viv Richards on TV commentary. Brilliant, said Viv, after Kohli had walked down the pitch and whipped a six. Just like Viv used to do himself. 

A change of ends for Southee and Iyer mows his slower ball over midwicket for six. At one point it looked as it would go further vertically than horizontally but it comfortably cleared l’homme vache down at cow corner. After Iyer takes a single down to long on Kohli punches two through cover and then pinches the strike with another drive laced to long on for a single. 

Phillips replaces Southee after the break and Iyer pats a drive down the ground for a single. The off-spinner arcs one into Kohli’s pads and Virat uses the angle to whip it for four down to fine leg. Phillips ties him up with three dot balls but there’s no needle and the damage (still) done. 

Glorious shot from Kohli in the latest imperial phase of his career, going up on to his toes to bisect point and short third man for four. That’s deserving of a drink in itself, and on they come.  

Tim Southee replaces Lockie Ferguson and Kohli picks the slower ball, puts on his dancing pumps, shuffles down and wedges a flick, all bottom hand, over long-on for six. Four more singles come between cover and mid-off as India motor on. One hypothesis of the modern analyst is that the score from 30 overs should be doubled after 50. If India manage that ... Blimey! 

Boult returns and Kohli waltzes down and thumps him over mid-off for four. Having taken a heavy toll off the first ball they are content to milk a couple of singles. Sir Viv Richards is currently in the commentary box. For people of my generation there is no one and never will be anyone like him. 

Best over yet from Ferguson and Iyer chisels out an excellent, rapid yorker. Just three singles off the over. NZ have clawed it back from nine an over at the start to just over seven. 

The DJ leads cries of ‘King! King! Kohli!’ after he makes his 72nd ODI fifty, his first in World Cup knockouts stretching back to 2011, with a single down to long-on off Ravindra.

Earlier in the over Iyer chasséd down to the left-arm spinner and pumped him over long-off for six and then was almost gulled into spooning a catch to short third man with a wider line and tempting flight but he skewed it streakily past the diving fielder, placed there for just such an error. 

Another tidy over from Ferguson after the deluge in his first spell. Kohli flicks two down to long leg, smells the leather when he sways out of the road of a perfume ball and works a single off his hip. Tim Southee gives him a hug at the end of the over, both men wreathed in smiles. 

Poor fielding from New Zealand. Well, poor thinking more like as Latham fumbles a return and Kohli adds a buzzer to his single. That apart, it’s a perfectly respectable over from Rachin Ravindra, only that two and a pair of singles, both to long-off, come from it. 

Kohli isn’t struggling in the heat, sprinting his singles, constantly hustling and piling urgency on to the fielders. Ferguson returns and almost does Iyer for pace. He takes it on hesitantly, pulling off the top edge by the splice, one-bounce to fine leg for a single. Kohli also gets away with a mistimed pull when cramped for room, gloving it wide of Latham for four. Moral victories both for the beleaguered Ferguson but no solace. 

Filth from Santner who drags the ball down and Kohli rocks back to swat it through midwicket for four. Shubman, who only recovered from Dengue Fever to take his place in the side after the opening matches, is having to go off after length treatment to his hamstring which looks more serious than cramp. 

Gill retires hurt for 79. 

In comes Shreyas Iyer for the last two balls of the over. 

Iyer is sent back when trying to steal a single to short fine leg but gets off the mark with a patted drive to long off. 

I hope Harry Brook is watching Shubman Gill – similar age and talent. Brook, even after England have been knocked out of this World Cup, has played only 12 ODIs. Gill plays himself in, goes through the gears, builds his innings and keeps the ball on the ground except for when he is aiming for six. 

If the message was to tuck into Phillips, he doesn’t allow it with a tidy over of darts that are worked around for four singles. Eoin Morgan thinks NZ are so under the cosh that they need to bring Boult back to break the partnership rather than trying to rattle through some overs of spin as inconspicuously as possible. 

India take three singles off Santner’s over and Rohit sends on a message with the drinks waiter, Ashwin. The commentators think Rohit wants them to get a wiggle on against the sixth bowler, Phillips. A hard task-master. They’re on course for 380 as it is. 

Gill is batting with style, intelligence and poise, sensing the right moment to take a big stride down and ping Phillips over mid-off for six. He’s back on the dance floor to the next ball, trotting down to whip a single through midwicket, playing havoc with the bowler’s equilibrium. Where do you bowl to him on a small ground in a cauldropn of heat and cacophony of noise which is made even more unsettling by the shrillness of the DJ/cheerleader. 

Both batsmen have now discarded their helmets for caps. After finding the fielders with his first two strokes off Santner’s fifth over, Gill gorges on an aberration in length to slap a single to the boundary rider at cover. Kohli takes a pair of singles to long on either side of Gill’s cut for one. 

Phillips replaces Gill. They are going to need a few overs from the offie in less than ideal circumstances, against the worst possible match-ups, given how leaky Lockie has been. 

And he gets out of the over for the cost of only six runs, four singles and Kohli’s two, worked with the angle wristily through midwicket.

Gill uses his feet to skip down once more to Santner and dump him into the Indian dressing room for six, straight back over his head. So much for taking back control. Santner over-corrects, drifts toon wide and Gill plays a late cut with echoes, albeit at a much greater and slender height, of Gundappa Viswanath. 

Ravindra is bowling well and to his field. Williamson posts himself again at shorty cover to deter Kohli from playing his signature drive with abandon and it works, forcing him to use his bottom hand more to work singles either side of him. Gill rocks back to scythe a single down to the sweeper at cover point. New Zealand are trying to use their spinners to take back control but it may be too late. The final single brought up the fifty partnership off 46 balls. 

Much tighter from Santner, tantalising the batsmen with flight and variations in pace but not allowing them to free their arms with his line/ They take four singles and reach the sanctuary of drinks on this sweltering afternoon majestically well-placed. 

The pitch for tomorrow’s semi final at Eden Gardens between Australia and South Africa will also take place on a used pitch. The game will be held on the same surface as the England-Pakistan game at the weekend. Not sure it suits either South Africa or Australia really. 

With pace proving so expensive, Williamson turns to Rachin Ravindra and a double helping of left-arm spin. India’s lack f left-handers has neutered Glenn Phillips’ threat. Gill brings up his half-century with a drive to long off and then Kohli works two between midwicket and long on with a stir of the right wrist before square driving for four.  

Look at how large the bowlers’ footmarks are already on this used pitch. There is going to be plenty of rough for India’s spinners when their time comes. Kuldeep in particular might come up with a ripper if the dew isn’t hampering him. 

Ferguson changes ends but not his fortunes. Gill plays a short-arm pull for four off NZ’s quickest bowler, flogging it for four then top-edges another, next ball, for six. Predictably enough the next ball is full, fast and down the corridor and Gill pushes it for a single to mid-off. Kohli, who has been standing admiringly at the non-striker’s, decides to filch the strike by going up en pointe to chop a single down to third man. 

Santner comes back on for a second over after Ferguson’s costly two-over spell. And he slams the brakes on by bowling very slowly by left-arm spinners’ standards. Gill times a sweep off middle stump perfectly but Conway makes a good running, tumbling stop to keep him down to two. 

Southee continues and tries to do Gill with a slow ball too but he waits for the first one and checks his stroke but when he goes fuller and slower Gill flicks it in the air past a diving shortish midwicket for four. Nice stroke but there was a whisper of hope for New Zealand there too. 

Rubbish from Ferguson, feeding Gill’s pull twice with short balls angled into the right-hander’s body. They would be fine at the Wanderers or Old Trafford or the Gabba but they sit up pat-a-cake style on this pitch and Gill hammers them for fours. Having been smashed once, why go short again?  

If you are going to have your bowling thrashed by two contemporary right-handed batsmen, you might as well have it done by Rohit and Shubman Gill. They are as elegant as right-handers come today. But now Rohit has gone, NZ can look forward to an hour or two of going at only a run a ball. 

Canny thinking and execution from Southee to remove Rohit with a slower ball, which, had he picked it, would have been sent into orbit. He almost bags Kohli too with a nip-backer but the inside edge saved him and earned him a boundary after it cannoned into his thigh pad and rattled away for four. 

Yes he did. It sounded woody before it hit his back thigh pad.  

Kohli lbw b Southee  Did he hit it? 

Rohit c Williamson b Southee 47  Fine bowling and fielding. Southee diddles India’s captain with a slower ball. He wants to hit it into Marine Drive but is too early on it and cloths it halfway between mid- and long-off. Williamson back-pedals at pace then  has to bound at the last to his left to pouch it over his shoulder. Brilliant catch.  FOW 71/1 

Changes to planned pitch rotations are common towards the end of an event of this length, and has already happened a couple of times. This change was made on the recommendation of the venue curator in conjunction with our host. The ICC independent pitch consultant was apprised of the change and has no reason to believe the pitch won’t play well.

Gill has had only half the numbers of balls that Rohit has faced but he enjoys pace coming on and is ideally placed for Lockie Ferguson’s introduction. Old ‘Black Boots’, NZ’s quickest bowler, gallops in and Gill smacks a cover drive on the up for four before accumulating a pair of deuces with a midwicket flick and and a classy off-drive that Southee chases down and claws back six inches from the rope. 

Rohit needs new gloves already.  

Better from Boult, belatedly achieving a consistency in length and pace (apart from one wide sprayed across the right-hander’s hips). Only two come off the bat as the infield snaps on to the ball nudged and nurdled, denying quick singles. The point sweeper runs round to prevent a boundary when Rohit smacks it on the top of the bounce and has to settle for two. 

But Rohit is not going to change his approach and he embraces risk, sweeping uppishly past a diving fine leg, flirting with danger, for four. Santner makes a rare error and drags the following ball down and Rohit swivels on his back foot to pan it high over the square leg umpire for six. As Dinesh Karthik shows, it’s the way he gyroscopes his bat from low to high as he completes his revolution, down to up, that makes it such a special stroke. 

This makes no sense from New Zealand. They keep feeding Rohit’s pull stroke, as daft an approach as it would be for Ricky Ponting or Richie Richardson. Rohit collars Boult’s short one angling in to his body from round the wicket and carts it for six and, after he takes a single, Gill punches a drive off the back foot for two. 

NZ are going to change tack and bring on Santner. 

Southee spears a wide down the legside then serves up Rohit’s favourite delivery, a half-tracker from a medium-pacer, and India’s captain pulls it in swashbuckling style for four. The next delivery is fuller and Rohit flicks it off a good length for six over deep backward square. The fielder was interested for a moment or two but recognised its trajectory would leave him a spectator as he craned his neck to watch it sail three rows back. 

If anything can save New Zealand after everything has started to go against them - losing the toss and India choosing the pitch – it is going to be their fielding. A couple of blinders might just enable NZ’s bowlers to get into India’s lower order, and the home side’s bowlers can hit rather than bat. 

Discretion grips Rohit when he aborts a pull but next ball he goes gung ho, as if to say “Sod it, I’m going to be myself”, skips down and pumps Boult over mid-off for six! The lack of significant swing is making Boult and Southee vulnerable but Boult fights back from round the wicket after a wide and arrows a ball into Rohit’s midriff, which leaves him doubled up in pain, winded and stung. 

Tim Southee takes the other new ball. Shape, too, for the right-armer. Gill cannot pierce square leg and cover off his first two balls but Southee serves up a pie, third up, a half-volley on leg and middle and Gill clips it through square leg for four.

Southee adjusts his line and Gill tries to flick it from the corridor and Harrow drives  it off the inside edge for a spawny four. 

Also worth pointing out the pitch chosen was last used two weeks ago, so it is pretty fresh really. It was also for a game against Sri Lanka when India’s seamers took nine wickets. When South Africa batted on it a month ago it was an absolute road for the batsmen (well, South Africa’s anyway). Of more relevance might be the fact it is a stonking hot this afternoon in Mumbai – 34C. Will the Kiwis melt like England did? I think they’re made of tougher stuff.

Rohit gets off the mark straightaway, flicking the full, inswinger off middle through midwicket for two. Boult has one slip halfway between orthodox first and second and is targeting bowled and lbw. Rohit defends the next two inswingers but Rohit takes the next one on and flamingo flicks it off his front leg inches over a leaping short midwicket then clumps the following ball through extra-cover for four. That’s not really his shot but he executed it beautifully. Typical start from Rohit who, at the end of the over, asks the DJ to turn down the volume.  

Trent Boult has the first new ball. India have never lost a knockout game at the World Cup batting first ...

India did not need to switch the pitch. They are good enough anyway. It is a stain on them if they win the World Cup but I guess it is what happens when a cricket board is so closely aligned with a political party like the BCCI is with the BJP. Dirty tricks become accepted.

It is something that will be forgotten by a home audience too if India wins, which is another political tool; appeal to your voters and stuff the rest. But if it backfires…

And making a racket as the teams come out for the national anthems, New Zealand’s first. 

From Eoin Morgan, Nasser Hussain and Dinesh Karthik is that India may have shot themselves in the foot by opting for a twice-used pitch when Jasprit Bumrahj and Mohammed Shami bowling so well. And they have not played left-arm spin well in the tournament and Santner is the World Cup’s nonpareil.

This pitch lets New Zealand lure them into a dogfight, which is exactly what they did four years ago, Morgan says while DK thinks “it was a good toss to lose”. The choice of pitch betrays for the first time that they are nervous despite nine wins from nine. 

India  Rohit Shama (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadab, Mohammed Siraj. 

New Zealand  Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson (capt), Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult. 

Umpires  Richard Illingworth (England), Rod Tucker (Australia). TV Joel Wilson (WI)

And will bat first.

Rohit Sharma: “Looks like a good pitch, on the slower side. But whatever we do we have to do well. It’s a very important day. We have to turn up and turn up well on that particular day. We have to control the controllables.”

Kane Williamson: “We would have done the same but it’s a used surface and hopefully some dew in the evening. Looking forward to the challenge ahead. It should be a good game. Both teams have seen a variety of conditions and it’s knockout cricket really.”

No, not that kind. This looks more like a fingertip search at a crime scene:

India have been accused of switching today’s semi-final against New Zealand in Mumbai to a used pitch.

The match against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium was due to be played on a fresh pitch but instead the one selected by the ground authorities is the same surface used for two previous matches in the tournament. 

Pitches at global events are prepared by local groundstaff but alongside the supervision of an independent expert from the International Cricket Council. ICC regulations also stipulate that pitches can be chosen by the relevant ground authorities but it had been agreed the semi-final would be played on pitch no 7. However, it emerged on Tuesday the pitch will be played on strip no 6 which was used for the India-Sri Lanka match two weeks ago and England-South Africa last month.

A used pitch could suit India’s spinners, and be a slower surface potentially nullifying the threat of New Zealand’s seamers. It is ironic given India’s strength at this tournament has been their outstanding seam attack led by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami.

The switch came as it emerged Andy Atkinson, the ICC’s pitch consultant, had emailed his bosses at the ICC expressing fears the same could happen for the final in Ahmedabad on Sunday.  

“As a result of these actions, one must speculate if this will be the first ever ICC CWC [World Cup] final to have a pitch which has been specifically chosen and prepared to their stipulation at the request of the team management and/or the hierarchy of the home nation board,” wrote Andy Atkinson, the ICC’s pitch consultant in an email to his bosses, published by the Daily Mail. “Or will it be selected or prepared without favouritism for either of the sides competing in the match in the usual manner, and unquestionably because it is the usual pitch for the occasion?”

It is not the first time used pitches have been chosen for semi finals. The two semi-finals in 2019 were played on fresh pitches at Edgbaston and Old Trafford. However the semi-final of the 2017 Champions Trophy that England lost to Pakistan in Cardiff had been used before in the group stages. The two semi-final pitches at the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia last year had also been used before.

India have fallen at the semi-final stage at the last two World Cups and were beaten by New Zealand at Old Trafford four years ago. It has been India’s seamers who have dominated this World Cup, rather than their spinners. They took nine out of ten wickets to fall during India’s only other match at the Wankhede Stadium against Sri Lanka, who were 29 for eight at one stage. 

Good morning and welcome to live coverage of the first semi-final of the 2023 Cricket World Cup which seems to have been going on since May. India, the unbeaten hosts, who won it at home in 2011 and appeared in the next two semi-finals, take on New Zealand who are gunning for a hat-trick of successive finals appearances in their bid finally to step up from bridesmaids against the overwhelming financial and playing resource odds that have made India, Australia and England the last three world champions.

Four years ago at a rain-soused Old Trafford on a sticky, stodgy pitch, India, who had topped the 10-team round robin stage, took on fourth-placed New Zealand in a semi-final that spanned two days. New Zealand had a diligent but hardly spectacular innings from Ross Taylor, 74 off 90 balls, to knit together a stuttering innings which crept doggedly to 239 for eight, which looked about 40 short.

But India stuck to their 2011 winning formula of building a platform methodically for MS Dhoni to guide them home and were undone by the hubris of their tactics, a fine opening spell from Matt Henry, Trent Boult knocking over Virat Kohli for one and Mitchell Santner, then as now, turning the screw. In the end they left MS and Ravindra Jadeja far too much to do and New Zealand deservedly qualified for the Lord’s final.

Today’s pitch, see above, could be just as tricky and detrimental to timing expansive shots sweetly.  

India have learnt their lesson, changed their approach and have the best top six in the tournament and the most penetrative and balanced bowling attack. Yet it is not inconceivable that they could be mugged by the Kiwis once more. I suspect the toss will be crucial. Both sides will want to bat first and if NZ win it, take first hit and can put on 280 they have a chance even against India’s stellar line-up. Only Australia of four victors at Wankhede so far have chased and they needed a miraculous double century from Glenn Maxwell on tin legs to get there.