Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer’s hundreds, together with Mohammed Shami’s seven-for, helped India advance to the 2023 ODI World Cup finals. Rohit Sharma, the captain, set the tone for the game by batting first and making an impeccable start off the bat. Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill went on to form a solid partnership in the future, although the former was unable to go long due to the intense Mumbai heat. Nevertheless, Shreyas Iyer joined the fray and scored a scorching century to aid India in amassing an enormous 398 runs. The day was further enhanced when Virat Kohli scored his 50th ODI century and dedicated it to his hero Sachin Tendulkar.
In the chase, India was troubled for the longest by the combination of Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell, but Mohammed Shami was relentless, taking wickets at regular intervals to keep India in the game. Mitchell, on the other hand, scored 134 runs and appeared to be in good form, but it was ultimately in vain.
Legend rose to the top
Virat Kohli achieved his 50th ODI century at Wankhede, surpassing the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. After hitting the milestone, he paid homage to the Master Blaster and went on to become one of the best white-ball cricket players of all time. With his 117-run knock, India amassed a huge total.
Mr. Dependable Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer scores two century in a row on the grandest platform. He is in the best shape of his life, which should give him assurance to perform well in the ODI World Cup 2023 finals. He scored an incredible 105 runs off of 70 deliveries, which allowed Virat to get comfortable and ultimately contributed to India scoring an overwhelming 397 runs.
Shami is unplayable by them.
By taking seven wickets, Mohammed Shami contributed to India’s victory.
Throughout the innings, he made crucial breakthroughs that gave India the advantage. Notably, Shami became the player to reach 50 wickets in the ODI World Cup fastest in history. With 23 wickets, he is also leading the most wickets table in the current World Cup. Shami earned the rightful Player of the Match award for his outstanding bowling.
Losing skipper Kane Williamson said:
Firstly, congrats to India. They have played great cricket throughout. They played their best game today. They are a top side and played top cricket. Credit to the guys. Proud of the guys to stay in the fight. Disappointing to go out in the knock-out stages. The effort was there. India are a top-class side. The world class batters just came out and batted beautifully. They got to 400.
Was tough as the ball was moving around. Credit to India, they outplayed us. Nice to be out there to give us a chance. Fantastic crowd. Slightly one-sided. Special to be here and glad to be hosted by India. As a team, there is real commitment to the cricket we wanted to play. Rachin and Mitchell were special. They played really well. Bowlers chipped in here and there. Lot of fight. Very proud. Ultimately it is moving forward as a team.
Winning skipper Rohit Sharma said:
I have played a lot of cricket here, you cannot relax. You got to get the job done as quickly as possible. We knew there’ll be pressure on us. We were calm even though we were a bit sloppy on the field. These things are bound to happen, glad that we could get the job done. When the scoring rate is above 9, you gotta take chances. They gave us chances, we didn’t take them., Mitchell and Williamson batted brilliantly. We had to stay calm. The crowd went silent, that’s the nature of the game.
We knew we had to pull something from our sleeves. We tried everything and Shami was brilliant. The top five-six batters, they have made it count. Very pleased with what Iyer has done in this tournament. Gill, the way he batted u[pfront was brilliant, unfortunately he had to return back. Kohli, as usual, was brilliant, played his trademark innings and got to his landmark. All in all, the batting was superb. That’s the template we want to move with.
POTM Mohammed Shami said:
I was waiting for my turn. I wasn’t playing much white ball cricket. I had in mind, we talk about a lot of things like yorkers and slower balls. I tried to take wickets with the new ball. I try to take as many as I can with the new ball. I dropped the catch of Kane. I felt bad. I tried to take pace off. They were playing their shots. So, I took a chance. The wicket was good. There was the fear of dew.
The grass was cut off nicely. The runs were enough. Had dew come in, things could have been bad. The slower balls might not have worked. I feel amazing. This is a huge platform. We lost in the semis in the 2015 and the 2019 WC. Looking to cash in with the chance I have been given. We don’t know when all of us will get a chance like this again.
India
