This World Cup has been a monumental journey for India as they are not only living a fairytale, but the stars are aligning, bringing India closer to the World Cup final than ever before. This innings by India is indeed how champions bat, as all the batters contributed massively to the humongous total they piled up.
Rohit “Hitman” Sharma gave the scorecard a fiery start as the captain, playing a captain’s knock, scored 47 out of 29 balls on his familiar pitch and ground. Gill also had a great start, but he couldn’t finish his story due to a minor cramp. Shubman Gill retired hurt before reaching 80 runs out of 66. Though he later came back, it was too late to complete his century, but Gill is having a dream run while being the best ODI batsman in the world.
On the other end of the wicket, King Virat Kohli was on the verge of setting up a record. Already equalling Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 centuries in ODI cricket, he was seeking the 50th one. And as Kohli was burdened with a glorious purpose, he didn’t come short. Kohli scored his 50th ODI ton in 106 balls, dethroning the Little Master, the God of cricket.
He wasn’t the only man in the feast of centuries as Iyer followed him to register a century but in a more striking way. Iyer made his ton in just 67 balls, scoring two centuries in consecutive matches. As wickets started to fall, Rahul had his fair share of sixes and fours, and in the end, registered 39 out of 20 balls.
The batsmen did their job, and now New Zealand has to chase an impossible target. Though the pitch wasn’t the most helpful for the NZ bowlers, it troubled the Indian batsmen in the end. Keeping the dew factor in mind, the bowling won’t be the easiest, but with such a humongous target on the board, India should start dreaming about the final.
