Virat Kohli’s hopes of becoming just the third Indian captain to win the World Cup ended on a heartbreaking note as New Zealand stunned his men in the first semifinal on Wednesday. New Zealand beat India by 18 runs to book their place in the final of the competition. New Zealand will take on the winner between England and Australia in the final.
The semifinal lived up to the expectations as fortunes swung from one side to another. But in the end, New Zealand held their nerve better and booked their place in the final. Not many would have thought that India would find it tough to chase after they restricted New Zealand to a modest 239 for 8. However, in the end the score turned out to be more than enough.
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Matt Henry (3-37) and Trent Boult (2-42) reduced India to 5 for 3 after just 3.1 overs with Rohit Sharma (1), KL Rahul (1) and Virat Kohli (1) all back in the dressing room. A stunning catch from Jimmy Neesham at backward point got rid of Dinesh Karthik to make it 24 for 4. Mitchell Santner then dismissed Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant to make it 92 for 6.
But just when it looked all over for Team India, Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni produced a 116-run partnership to drag the Men in Blue back in contention.However, with 37 runs needed from the final 18 balls, Jadeja departed for 77.
Dhoni struck a six off the first ball of the 49th over but was then superbly run out by Martin Guptill to realistically end India’s slim chances. India were eventually all out for 221.
Soon after the game ended, Virat Kohli took to Twitter to leave a special message for his fans. The India skipper thanked the fans for their support before writing that the team tried its best.
“Firstly I want to thank all our fans who came in huge numbers to support the team. You made it a memorable tournament for all of us & we definitely felt the love showered upon the team. We are all disappointed & share the same emotions as you. We gave everything we had.Jai hind??”
Firstly I want to thank all our fans who came in huge numbers to support the team. You made it a memorable tournament for all of us & we definitely felt the love showered upon the team. We are all disappointed & share the same emotions as you. We gave everything we had.Jai hind?? pic.twitter.com/rFwxiUdqK5
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) July 10, 2019