- Date: Wednesday November 15, 08:30 GMT
- Location: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, India
- Teams: India vs New Zealand
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Hosts India take on Kiwis in semi-final
India go into the semi-final as strong favourites, having swept all before them in the group stage. The hosts went into the tournament as favourites and, so far, have lived up to this in a most convincing manner. New Zealand started the tournament in superb fashion by comprehensively defeating second favourites and holders England in the opening match and then continued to impress in the early weeks. However, four losses in their last five games had them struggling over the line. The Kiwis have traditionally peaked for ICC tournaments and have finished runners-up on the last two occasions.
The group match between the two saw India prevail by four wickets.
India
India have been in imperious form and arrive at the semi-final stage with a 100% record and a run -rate of +2.570 shows how comfortable they have been so far.
India have three of the top 10 run-scorers in the tournament, Virat Kohli with 594 runs in nine innings, captain Rohit Sharma with 503 and Shreyas Iyer with 421.
They also have three of the top 10 wicket-takers, with fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah boasting 17 wickets in his nine games, followed by another fast bowler, Mohammed Shami and spinner Ravindra Jadeja with 16 wickets each.
Hardik Pandya, abesnt for the last few matches, has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament with Prasidh Krishna being brought in as his replacement.
India Squad:
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Prasidh Krishna.
New Zealand
New Zealand come into the semi-final with a record of five wins and four defeats.They had two points to spare over Pakistan, along with a superior run-rate. However, given their record at the ICC World Cup, especially in the last eight years, they are a dangerous opponent.
Opener Rachin Ravindra, who has been sensational in his first-ever ODI World Cup, currently on 565 runs in nine innings, will be vital to the Kiwis while all-rounder Daryl Mitchell will also need to add to his 418-run tally to give his side a chance against the hosts.
Spinner Mitchell Santner and paceman Trent Boult have been the main wicket-takers for the Black Caps with 16 and 13, respectively, with Lockie Ferguson also making double figures with 10.
The absence of Matt Henry, who took 11 wickets before exiting the tournament due to injury, is a blow to New Zealand’s hopes.
New Zealand squad:
Kane Williamson (c), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitch Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young.
Prediction
We believe that this semi-final will go as expected, which means a fairly convincing win for the hosts. However, New Zealand are more than capable of springing a surprise and if India dip below their best levels the Kiwis could well capitalise. While New Zealand undoubtedly save their best for the World Cup we think that India will have too much for them and that the host nation will progress to the final.
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