India wins the toss and bats first against New Zealand in the semi-final
MUMBAI: Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat in the first World Cup semi-final against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.
The venue, where India won their last 50-over World Cup title, has hosted four day-night contests in this tournament so far, with three of them won by the batting team first.
Australia were the only team to bat second after Glenn Maxwell made an unbeaten double hundred.
“It looks like a good throw, even from the slower side, but whatever we do, we know we have to do it well,” Sharma said during the toss.
For Wednesday’s match, India and New Zealand remained unchanged from their previous match.
India have looked invincible so far, winning all nine of their round-robin matches, including a four-wicket win over the Black Caps in Dharamsala.
New Zealand, however, beat India at the same stage in the 2019 edition.
“It was 2019 when we played this semi-final, New Zealand have been one of the most consistent teams over the years and it’s going to be a good competition,” Sharma added.
“It’s a very important day. I’ve kept saying how important it is to be present on this day and forget what happened in the past.”
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said he would also have batted first.
“It’s obviously a worn surface, but we’ll try to use it with the ball first and hopefully there will be a bit of dew later,” Williamson said.
“It’s an incredible opportunity. We’re looking forward to the challenge ahead of us. It’s a tough challenge, they’ve played some good cricket, but so have we.”
Australia and South Africa will meet in the second semi-final at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, with the final taking place in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Teams:
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj
New Zealand: Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson (captain), Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitch Santner, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult
