India ended a 20-year wait to beat New Zealand in the ODI World Cup as Virat Kohli and Mohammed Shami led the home team to a famous 5-wicket win in the CWC 2023 in Dharamsala on Sunday.
Riding on Kohli's 104-ball 95, India chased down the target of 275 in 48 overs to resgiter their fifth win in succession in the tournament and defeat New Zealand after 20 years in the ODI World Cup.
The last time India beat New Zealand in the ODI World Cup was way back in 2003 when Sourav Ganguly's team won by 7 wickets in a low-scoring match at Centurion.
Kohli became the first batter in the world to complete 3000 runs in ICC white-ball tournaments during his knock. He also overtook Rohit Sharma to become the highest run-scorer in this World Cup.
King Kohli does it again in a run chase
Captain Rohit and Ravindra Jadeja also made useful contributions with the bat, scoring 46 and 39 not out. Kohli was involved in three big fifty-run partnerships which was crucial for India's victory.
Kohli first added 52 with Shreyas Iyer (33) before his 54-run stand with KL Rahul (27). But it was the 78-run partnership with Jadeja which took India near the finish line.
Kohli was unfortunate to have missed out on a record-equalling 49th ODI hundred but he did what was required to take India to the top of the points table.
Shami takes record five-for
Earlier, Mohammad Shami's five-wicket haul helped India bowl out New Zealand for 273 in 50 overs after winning the toss and electing to field first.
Shami became the first Indian bowler to take multiple five-fors (2) in ODI World Cups.
This happened after Daryl Mitchell scored his third ODI hundred and ended up with a career-best score of 130 while Rachin Ravindra contributed with 75 runs for the Blackcaps.
Shami Adjudged Player of the Match
"When you come back after a long time to the XI it is important to get confidence early. That first game helped get that confidence.
"Its not too hard (waiting by the sidelines) if your team is doing well. They are your teammates and if they are doing well then you should be supporting them.
"If its in the team's interest, I'm okay with it. The wickets are important because we were top 2 teams of the World Cup were playing," Shami said after being adjudged the Player of the Match at the HPCA stadium.
