Indian captain Rohit Sharma was full of praise for the top-order batters who nearly scored 400 against New Zealand as the Men in Blue stormed their way into the World Cup 2023 final. Rohit himself scored a blistering fast 29-ball 47, setting the platform for the likes of Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli to dominate the proceedings. Gill smashed 80 runs but picked up a niggle and thus missed out on his century, however, Kohli did score his 50th ODI hundred surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s record with the legend himself seated in the stands.
Shreyas Iyer also slammed his second World Cup hundred while KL Rahul put the finishing touches on the total, helping India reach 397/4 at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.
Rohit praised the top-order batters while conceding that the pair of Daryl Mitchell and Kane Williamson gave India some chance however, the Men in Blue were not clinical enough, as Mohammed Shami dropped a catch but atoned for his mistake by picking up a 7-fer.
Follow all the action from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 including the World Cup schedule, World Cup 2023 results, and ICC Cricket World Cup points table. Players are vying to top the World Cup 2023 Most Runs and World Cup 2023 Most Wickets charts.
“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,” said Rohit during the post-match presentation ceremony.
With the Indian top order on song, Rohit has some very kind words for the likes of Gill, Kohli and Iyer while he also acknowledged Shami’s herculean effort.
“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 upfront 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,” said the Indian skipper.
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With a tenth consecutive victory in the tournament, India qualified for their first World Cup final since 2011, at the third time of asking, having faltered in the semifinal stage in 2015 and 2019.
The Men in Blue booked their tickets for the summit clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on November 19, as they await their opponents with South Africa meeting Australia in the second semifinal on Thursday.
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