India maintained their winning streak in the 2023 World Cup, but they put an end to New Zealand’s with a convincing victory on Sunday in Dharamshala. Additionally, this became India’s first victory over New Zealand in an ICC competition in 20 years. India currently sits atop the standings after winning each of their five matches thus far in the competition, while New Zealand, with four victories out of five, dropped to No. 2.
Virat Kohli and Mohammed Shami, who became the first Indian bowler to pick up more than a five-wicket haul in ODI World Cups, masterminded India’s victory. Shami only participated in the game at Dharamshala because India had to substitute Suryakumar Yadav for Shardul Thakur because the star all-rounder Hardik Pandya had injured his ankle during the match against Bangladesh.
Virat Kohli, who helped India defeat Bangladesh a few days ago delivered another masterful performance. The “chase master” was just five runs away from scoring his second consecutive ODI hundred. The number of runs required for Kohli’s hundred and the number of runs required for India were identical, just like in the match against Bangladesh. But as Kohli approached Sachin Tendulkar’s 49-hundred world record, he was bowled by Matt Henry, and Jadeja then scored the go-ahead runs in the same over to hand New Zealand their first loss of the World Cup. Being the leading run-scorer in this year’s World Cup is a major accomplishment for Virat Kohli, who only recently shrugged off his inconsistent play.