The first of two Cricket World Cup semi-finals, with India taking on New Zealand at Old Trafford in Manchester. The match should feel like a home fixture for India, with Indian fans expected to pack into stadium to cheer on their team.
The winner will confront either England or Australia, who play their semi-final at Edgbaston on Thursday. India would have been playing England on Tuesday had Australia not been beaten by South Africa on Saturday, which means they slipped into second spot in the group stage standings.
Almost four weeks ago, India and New Zealand were set to meet as the main two unbeaten teams left in the Cricket World Cup. Adverse climate constrained the game to be cancelled, however the two teams appear to be bound to run into each other and they do as such with the little matter of a World Cup final spot at stake.
India’s seven-wicket whipping of Sri Lanka on Saturday, combined with Australia’s 10-runs defeat to South Africa, saw the 2011 winners jump the Australians and qualify as the group stage victor.
The reward for completing first is an semifinal against New Zealand in Manchester, rather than a gathering with England in Birmingham, and India will unquestionably not complain.
While the Black Caps are positioned only a spot beneath India in the one-day world rankings—they are third, while their rivals on Tuesday are second—the two teams land into the semifinal in differentiating form.
India’s defeat against England in the second-last game of the group stage was a unimportant blip in a generally close flawless run. The 2011 victors won seven of the eight games they have played and keeping in mind that they have seldom hit top gear, they have almost always looked in control.
“We wanted to play good cricket but we didn’t expect to do this well heading in to the semis,” India’s captain Virat Kohli was quoted as saying by the BBC.
“That’s what hard work gets you. I am really proud of this team as a captain, they are amazing people. More or less everything is set for the semis but we don’t want to be one-dimensional. We need balance in the side. We are very happy.”
New Zealand, then again, slithered over the line. Unbeaten through their initial six games, the Black Caps resoundingly lost the last three matches of the gathering stage and just qualified in front of Pakistan in view of a superior run rate.
Except for skipper Kane Williamson, the 2015 other participants have looked stressing with the bat. The 28-year-old has scored 30 percent of his team’s keeps running in the group stages and the team’s over-dependence on their captain could finish in disaster.
All the equivalent, this is New Zealand’s fourth back to back World Cup last so India will write the Black Caps at their peril. Here’s all that you have to know ahead of Tuesday.
When and where is the game?
India takes on New Zealand at Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester on Tuesday, July 9, with play scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. nearby time (5:30 a.m. ET).
TV channel and live stream
The game will be broadcast in the U.S. by Willow TV and Hotstar, with a live stream available via Sling TV.
The latter is one of the official partners of Willow TV and is available across various platforms such as Apple TV, iOS, Android TV, XBOX, Chrome TV, Fire TV and Roku.
Match odds
As per Oddschecker, India is a 1/3 most loved to win on Tuesday, while New Zealand is a 5/2 pariah to achieve a second sequential World Cup final.
To no one’s amazement, Rohit Sharma is a 9/2 most loved to be the top run scorer in the game. The Indian opener has officially left a mark on the world in this tournament by turning into the main man to score five centuries in a similar World Cup.
Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson both follow at 5/1. The Indian captain is yet to post a three-figure score in the tournament, while the New Zealand skipper has officially done as such twice.
Form
In Rohit Sharma, India has ostensibly the player of the tournament up until this point. The 30-year-old has impacted the world forever with five centuries in eight amusements and is the competition’s top run scorer with 647 runs, just 26 shy of the untouched record set by Sachin Tendulkar in 2003.
On current form, it would take a dramatic change in fortunes to prevent him from eclipsing the Indian great.
Bowling wise, Jasprit Bumrah looks his usual unplayable self, while Mohammed Shami is hitting peak at the right moment.