In Dharamsala, India maintained their unbroken record in the ongoing ICC World Cup by defeating New Zealand by four wickets on Sunday. This was India's fifth victory in the same number of matches, and the outcome propelled the hosts to the top of the ten-team standings.
With two overs remaining, India, asked to chase a challenging 274 runs, won the match. The man guiding India's run chase, Virat Kohli, was denied a well-earned century. Even though Kohli was dismissed for 95(104), New Zealand was already out of contention. Throughout his innings, Kohli shared three fifty-plus stands with Shreyas Iyer (52), KL Rahul (54), and Ravindra Jadeja (78). Jadeja too had a strong batsmanship, returning after 39 balls and 44 bounces undefeated.
While India dominated New Zealand for runs in the first ten overs after winning the toss and opting to bowl first, Ravindra and Mitchell made India feel the heat in the cool environs of Dharamsala. The injury to Hardik Pandya and the dismissal of Shardul Thakur left the team without a sixth seamer, something the batters felt acutely when they sent spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja to the cleaners. In sharp contrast to how the first ten overs went, Kuldeep ended up conceding 32 runs in his opening three overs. in the first ten overs, the Indian seamers were unrelenting, as Mohammed Shami removed Will Young with the opening ball of the game within that time.
Jadeja bowled 10 consecutive overs and finished with figures of 0/48, forcing India to use up all of his overs in the first thirty overs alone. When Bumrah dropped Mitchell at the boundary and the ball crossed for four, the Ravindra and Mitchell partnership eventually reached 150. In the 34th over, Shami finally put a stop to India's suffering when he dismissed Ravindra for 75 off 87 balls. Shortly after, Kuldeep removed New Zealand captain Tom Latham from the match, but Mitchell persisted. Ultimately, he achieved his fifth century in ODI. Subsequently, the Indians retaliated, and New Zealand were all out for 273.
