India recorded their fifth straight win in the ICC World Cup 2023 as they beat New Zealand by four wickets on Sunday, October 22. Mohammed Shami, playing in his first game in the tournament, took five wickets to bowl out New Zealand on 273 runs and then a sensational 95-run knock from Virat Kohli helped India towards an easy win.
Rohit won the toss for India and elected to bowl first at Dharamsala’s Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium. Shami and Suryakumar Yadav replaced Shardul Thakur and injured Hardik Pandya for India while Kane Williamson-less New Zealand remained unchanged.
Mohammed Siraj gave India a flying start with Devon Conway’s valuable wicket in the fourth over. Both Jasprit Bumrah and Siraj were excellent with their initial spells, but Mohammed Shami made the biggest impact.
Shami bowled out in-form Will Young on his first delivery in the tournament during the ninth over to put India in control of the game. But New Zealand made a comeback from early setbacks through Daryl Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra.
Daryl and Rachin registered a record-breaking 159 runs for the third wicket to put New Zealand on a track for the big total. Rachin scored his third fifty-plus score in the tournament with 75 runs off 87 balls before losing his wicket to Shami. India managed to take the momentum with successive wickets after Rachin’s dismissal to deny their opponent a 300-plus total.
Shami managed to take his second five-wicket haul in the ODI World Cup history while Daryl managed to bring his maiden World Cup hundred. Daryl top-scored with 130 runs off 127 balls as New Zealand scored 273/10 in 50 overs.