Final destination: Kohli, Iyer tons & Shami’s 7-star show take India into 4th final

Rohit Mahajan

Mumbai, November 15

The Kiwis fought like tigers, but the job at hand demanded a miracle, and there was no miracle man in the New Zealand camp tonight.

Daryl Mitchell may have fancied himself as one, but when, at 10 minutes past 10 in the night, he drove the ball high towards the midwicket fence, going for his eighth six, the hopes of a miracle were over — the game was as good as over. The ball was caught by Ravindra Jadeja close to the rope, and the valiant Mitchell had to trudge off the turf, his ears ringing with shrieks of triumph from the Indian partisans in the stands.

Now, New Zealand needed 92 off the final 28 balls and, with seven wickets gone, the hopes of a miracle evaporated.

India’s total of 397, starring Virat Kohli’s 50th ODI century, but in effect powered by a 70-ball 105 by Shreyas Iyer, proved to be more than enough, though Mitchell (134 off 119) and Kane Williamson (69 off 73) did make the capacity Wankhede Stadium crowd go quiet a bit during their stand of 181 off 149 balls.

But there was a mountain — perhaps not much different from Mt Everest, which captain Williamson was reminded of yesterday by a sharp reporter — to climb. Mitchell and Williamson had got together in the eighth over, at 39/2, when the asking rate was 8.52 an over; over the course of the next 27 overs, they kept the team in the game with cool aggression, driving and lofting the ball over the fielders, finding the gaps; when even Jasprit Bumrah went for 14 runs, in the 31st over, New Zealand were 185 runs from the target, needing to score at 9.73 off the final 19 overs. The crowd was restive, even worried, despite the 397 on board.

Two overs later, the tide turned — first ball of the 33rd over, from Mohammed Shami, Mitchell got to 100 off 85, but then Williamson, going for a six, struck the ball right into the lap of Suryakumar Yadav right at the midwicket boundary. Next man Tom Latham survived one ball before Shami got one to dart into him, trapping him in front of the wicket — the most clear of all LBW decisions. Glenn Phillips heaved two sixers and four fours before Bumrah got him with a slower ball — New Zealand five down, needing 103 from 43 balls. Off the last six overs, the Kiwis needed 98, but those overs were to be bowled by the quality pace trio of Bumrah, Shami, and Mohammed Siraj. Mitchell fell to Shami, and it was only a matter of time before the lower order panicked, flailed, fell. Shami made a killing, ending up seven for 57 off 9.5 overs.

India’s innings had Kohli in the top billing, but in fact it was turbo-powered by an Iyer special, his second consecutive century of the tournament, and by innings of no lesser importance by Rohit Sharma (47 off 29) and Shubman Gill (80 off 66). KL Rahul’s cameo of 39 off 20 ensured India reached a total that would shock and awe the opposition, though the Kiwis refused to be awed — Mitchell and Williamson, especially, fought as if they were fighting for their lives.

The pitch wasn’t responsive, and the big New Zealand pacemen didn’t have a clue where to put the ball — Trent Boult began by bowling at Rohit’s pads and was punished. Tim Southee did the same with Gill, and India were off. Rohit then put Boult in the stands over extra cover, and struck Southee for a four and six, and Boult for another over long leg — 47 in five overs! Mitchell Santner, the left-arm spinner, was hit for 4-6 off consecutive balls in his first over by Rohit. The captain fell when he sliced a slower ball from Southee, and it went up high towards long off, and Williamson ran back, made a last-second adjustment and caught the ball. Gill attacked, nevertheless. The Kiwis tried to take the pace off the ball by bowling slower ones, bringing on the spinners, but Gill took a heavy toll of them before he walked off due to cramps.

Iyer, in the form of his life, was merciless against the spinners and pacers alike — sixers off Rachin Ravindra, Southee, Phillips, Boult, everyone! — playing his role of destroyer to perfection, allowing Kohli to play the aggregator.

What they aggregated would have frightened any team, and the Kiwis tried to soar — but not high enough.

Scoreboard

India

R Sharma c Williamson b Southee 47

S Gill not out 80

V Kohli c Conway b Southee 117

S Iyer c Mitchell b Boult 105

KL Rahul not out 39

S Yadav c Phillips b Southee 1

Extras: (b 1, lb 1, w 6) 8

Total: (4 wickets, 50 overs) 397

FOW: 1-71, 2-327, 3-381, 4-382

Bowling O M R W

Trent Boult 10 0 86 1

Tim Southee 10 0 100 3

Mitchell Santner 10 1 51 0

Lockie Ferguson 8 0 65 0

Rachin Ravindra 7 0 60 0

Glenn Phillips 5 0 33 0

New Zealand

D Conway c Rahul b Shami 13

R Ravindra c Rahul b Shami 13

K Williamson c Yadav b Shami 69

D Mitchell c Jadeja b Shami 134

T Latham lbw b Shami 0

G Phillips c Jadeja b Bumrah 41

M Chapman c Jadeja b Yadav 2

M Santner c Sharma b Siraj 8

T Southee c Rahul b Shami 9

T Boult not out 2

L Ferguson c Rahul b Shami 6

Extras: (b 5, lb 5, nb 1, w 19) 30

Total: (all out, 48.5 overs) 327

FOW: 1-30, 2-39, 3-220, 4-220, 5-295, 6-298, 7-306, 8-319, 9-321

Bowling O M R W

Jasprit Bumrah 10 1 64 1

Mohammed Siraj 9 0 78 1

Mohammed Shami 9.5 0 57 7

Ravindra Jadeja 10 0 63 0

Kuldeep Yadav 10 0 55 1

Player of the Match: Mohammed Shami