A contest befitting of a World Cup semifinal. It had everything: rain, drama and emotion. India bowled well to restrict New Zealand to 239 but its batting came undone at the worst possible time. The top-order was rattled by Matt Henry and Trent Boult but the Men in Blue fought back through a century stand between Jadeja and Dhoni. The duo batted sensibly but the scoreboard pressure ultimately got the better of Jadeja. M.S. Dhoni kept India in the hunt, but his run-out off Guptill's brilliant direct hit saw the match swing New Zealand's way. They won by 18 runs and will now await the winner of the England vs Australia match in the final at Lord's.
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GONE! Jadeja holes out. Huge moment in the match. New Zealand are back in this contest. Boult gets the Kiwis the breakthrough they were looking for. What's going through MSD's mind? Oh Dear. Dhoni hits a six and is run out next ball thanks to a brilliant direct hit from Guptill. That's surely the match for NZ.
100-run stand comes up between MS and Jaddu. That came off 97 balls. Now, five singles off Henry's last over. His figures: 10-1-37-3. IND 203/6 after 47 overs. India needs 37 runs in 18 balls.
Dhoni and Jadeja keep working the ball in the gaps. Ones and twos but they could use a slew of big hits just about now. Who'll theduo target? Who'll go after the bowlers? Jaddu or MS? SIX! Jaddu has launched that over long-off for six. Ferguson trying the slow ball but to no avail. 10 from the over. India needs 52 in 30 balls.
Jadeja brings up his 50. A boundary followed by a brace takes him to the landmark. India need 72 off 8 overs.
Santner has bowled out but not before Jaddu hoicked him before deep mid-wicket for six. Nine runs from his last over. Jaddu on 45. India needs 81 in 54.
Henry and Santner bowl the 38th and 39th. Jadeja lofted Satner for a maximum after having collected a boundary off Henry in the previous over. 15 runs off the last two overs combined. IND 141/6 after 39 overs.
Matt Henry has been brought into the attack. Four runs from the over, including two rippers against MS. Could've easily had a fourth there. Santner into his eighth. Three singles from that over. IND 126/6 after 37 overs.
Boult into his eighth. Dhoni strikes a low full toss past the bowler for four. Three singles more and a wide from that over. Santner back into the attack. Every run is being cheered by the fans. Dhoni and Jaddu have run a few tight ones and twos here but they're keeping the scoreboard ticking. Five from it. IND 119/6 after 35 overs.
SIX! Jadeja decides to take on Neesham, steps down and launches it over long-on for a six. India goes past the 100-run mark. Nine runs from the over. IND 106/6 after 33 overs. India need 134 runs in 17 overs.
GONE! Hardik holes out and India slips further.
Lockie Ferguson Santner with the breakthrough. New Zealand strengthen their hold on the match.
IND 92/6 after 30.3 overs. Jadeja joins M.S. What a spell this has been so far: 5.3-2-5-2. Two runs and a wicket from it.
IND 94/6 after 31 overs.
Neesham's back into the attack. They're taking the odd ones and twos, are M.S. and Hardik. But for how long is the question? Given the way M.S. has batted this tournament, odds of him going after the bowlers so early are unlikely. So Hardik, at some point, will have to break the shackles. He has shown great maturity so far, mind you. M.S. has worked a couple and three off Neesham's bowling. Seven from that over. IND 92/5 after 30 overs.
Santner into his fifth over. He has gone for just three so far. M.S. collects a brace to deep backward-point. He has kept it around the length/back of a length region. Dhoni is happy to see off the remaining balls. IND 85/5 after 29 overs. India needs 155 runs in 21 overs.
Neesham's taken off the attack. Santner continues. Just two runs from the over. Ferguson follows it up with an one-run over. IND 83/5 after 28 overs.
Ferguson has been brought back into the attack. The Kiwis realise one more wicket here will put them firmly in command. Just three runs from Lockie's comeback over. IND 80/5 after 26 overs.
GONE. Pant has thrown it away. He falls for 32. CDG completes a simple chance. M.S. Dhoni at the crease. A wicket maiden from Santner. Brilliant.
Mitchell Santner into the attack. Spin for the first time in this innings. Starts with a maiden. Just a quick heads up: India are way behind D/L at the moment. So if it rains and it's a washout, New Zealand win. Neesham continues. Good over. Only one from it. IND 71/4 after 22 overs.
Jimmy Neesham has been introduced into the attack. He starts with two dots before collecting a couple to backward square-leg. Pant ends the over with a boundary to thid-man. Short and wide from Neesham and Pant throws his bat at it. IND 70/4 after 20 overs.
Ferguson begins with a good length ball that zips past Pant's outside edge. The keeper-batsman brings out the pull shot next ball for a couple. He wasn't in control of the shot. Ferguson responds with a short of a length delivery. Backs it up with a very full ball. Two dots to end the over. IND 62/4 after 19 overs.
The D/L score is 110/4 after 20 overs . India way behind at the moment. Meanwhile, Hardik is collecting braces off CDG. Two back-to-back for now. Make that a hat-trick of twos and a single. One for Pant to end the over. IND 60/4 after 18 overs.
It's gone dark in Manchester. In the meantime, de Grandhomme into the attack. A couple and two singles from it in the end. Tidy start. Another excellent over from Lockie. Just four runs from it. India has limped to 51/4 after 17 overs.
DRINKS! Last two overs have been about two young batsmen trying to put a price tag on their wicket. Hardik scythed a boundary off Henry's bowling but Ferguson, from the other end, is cranking it up. He has already clocked 150 clicks an hour. IND 43/4 after 15 overs.
DROPPED! Neesham has dropped a sitter off Lockie Ferguson's bowling. Pant gets a life. He has a slip and gully for the southpaw. Good over. Just two runs off it. IND 37/4 after 13 overs.
Hardik ahead of Dhoni at this stage is baffling to stay the least. Meanwhile, Henry drops short and Pant pulls it away for four. Good comeback from the bowler. Just a single off the remaining balls. IND 35/4 after 12 overs.
Hardik joins Pant. Boult to bowl his sixth with three slips in place. A single off the first five balls and a rare loose ball from Boult ; strays in line and Hardik works it fine with a leg-glance for four. IND 30/4 after 11 overs.
SHOT! Second boundary for Pant who has absolutely nailed this cover drive off Henry. GONE! Neesham has pulled off a blinder and India have lost another wicket. Henry is all over India's top-order. IND 24/4 after 10 overs.
Boult into his fifth over. DK's yet to get off the mark, in case you didn't notice. He has already played 18 balls. Four dots and Karthik's finally off the mark with a boundary to third-man. Opens the face of the bat and guides it to the ropes. A brace to end the over. IND 19/3 after 9 overs.
Oh by the way, the sun's out. Henry to continue. Good batting from Pant, drives one square of the wicket for a double. Another good over - only a brace and an extra (wide) from it. IND 13/3 after 8 overs.
Boult has been brilliant with the new ball. He almost always is. The movement he is getting off the pitch and in the air has troubled the batsmen. Add to that his express pace and you've a wicket-taking formula. Beauty from Boult: ends the over with a fiery full length delivery. IND 10/3 after 7 overs.
So how do India battle this slump? Go on the offensive or weather this spell of new-ball bowling out. Pant's inherently aggressive. But can he curb those instincts and play a responsible knock? Massive pressure. DK's going to be crucial. SHOT! Pant threads the gap with a drive square of the wicket for four. IND 10/3 after 6 overs.
New Zealand have tasted blood here. Three slips in place for Boult. Meanwhile, it's gone overcast at Old Trafford. This is a litmus test for India's untested middle-order. The slips are really wide. A massive lbw shout against Karthik turned down. Just one run from the over. IND 6/3 after 5 overs.
KL Rahul, now, follows suit. He is out caught behind off Henry and Indian top-order in complete shambles. DK walks out at 5. Two slips for Karthik. Second consecutive wicket-maiden from NZ. IND 5/3 after 4 overs.
Boult continues. Two slips for Virat who has a tendency to poke at the away going delivery early in his innings. He needs to be mindful of that against Boult who will try to lure him with angler. GONE! Virat has been given out lbw! He reviews. Replays show three reds and India have lost their captain. HUGE, HUGE WICKET! Rishabh Pant, left handed bat, comes to the crease. IND 5/2 after 3 overs.
Matt Henry to share the new ball. Two slips for him. GONE! Rohit's out caught behind. Henry snaps up the big fish. Virat Kohli joins Rahul. Outside edge straightaway for Kohli. He gets off the mark with a single. India need Kohli to convert one of those starts into a big one today. IND 5/1 after 2 overs.
KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma to begin the run chase. Boult with the new ball. Rahul's off in a flash, a single to get off the mark. Rohit opens his account with a single to short fine-leg. A slip in place. Two from the over. IND 2/0 after 1 over.
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Bhuvmeshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah did a fine job in the death overs. The Kiwis have reached , what should be a competitive total given this is a semifinal. Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson, two of their most experienced campaigners came to the party with respective fifties. All things said and done, India now have to make 240 to reach the finals . The Rohit-KL duo at the top will be crucial. For New Zealand, how Boult bowls with the new ball could well decide which way the game swings.
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Bumrah to bowl the last over. Seven from it and New Zealand has been restricted to 239 thanks partly to Jadeja who put on an exhibition of brilliant fielding.
GONE! Jaddu, you beauty. How's that for a 'bits and pieces cricketer'? Times his jump to perfection to hold on to a sharp catch. Latham departs. Matt Henry comes to the crease. SHOT! Santner gets a boundary - first of the morning. GONE ! Another one bites the dust; Henry holes out. NZ 232/8 after 49 overs.
Bumrah back for his ninth. A single for Latham. Another full toss from Bumrah and another couple for the Kiwis. There comes the slower ball and Taylor's through with his shot but will get a single. DIRECT HIT ! Taylor has been caught short of his crease thanks to a sensational throw from Ravindra Jadeja. NZ 225/6 after 48 overs . Eight from the over.
Right then, the Indian fielders are out in the middle. Ross Taylor and Tom Latham will aim to make the most of the remaining overs. Bhuvneshwar to continue. Taylor takes a single and gets off strike. What a ball. Brilliant yorker outside off stump to Latham and that's a dot. The southpaw hares back for a quick double next ball. Then steals a single. Now Taylor gets a brace. NZ 217/5 after 47 overs.
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New Zealand will resume its innings from 211/5. The Kiwis have 23 deliveries left to get to, let's say 250? or 260? On a sluggish wicket, anything over 250 will be challenging. That said, the remaining overs will be bowled by Bumrah and Bhuvi, two of the best death over bowlers. Suffice to say, we are in for an exciting contest!
PITCH REPORT| The pitch has returned to its original state. It'll be on the slower side; the kind of wicket that will encourage the New Zealand seamers to use the loopy short balls. It isn't a rank turner, so the notion that Mitchell Santner might pose a big threat might be slightly exaggerated," reckons Sanjay Manjrekar.
The camera now pans to India skipper Virat Kohli who ambles to the ground nonchalantly before taking a few throwdowns. Bumrah and Bhuvi, meanwhile, are marking the run-up and can be seen having a chat with bowling coach Bharat Arun.
A few Indian players along with head coach Ravi Shastri can be seen warming up on the field. Meanwhile, oustide the stadium, the ever so exuberant Indian fans have started queuing up. We are just over an hour out from the action. How many more will the Kiwis score? Can Boult remove Rohit early or will the Mumbaikar canter to another hundred? Answers to these questions and many more coming our way!
Less than two hours to start of play. Now live images have started coming in. The hovercraft's off the 22 yards. Most importantly, we can see the sun! We might have an on-time start after all.
It's looking good for an on-time start. Here's the latest on what to expect in Manchester today| It is likely to remain dry with some sunshine. Cloud increasing though during morning then fairly cloudy afternoon and early evening. Looks like staying mainly dry."
Gloomy skies greet Manchester on Wednesday morning.
K.C. Vijaya Kumar from Manchester pings: "Overcast skies but no rains so far." First piece of promising news coming in from Old Trafford where in a few hours from now Team India will resume its battle to qualify for the finals. For those asking | There's no more than 20 per cent chance of a few spots of light rain from around 1pm... (5:30 PM IST). The heavy showers are expected to arrive overnight.
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While Rohit Sharma has gleaned all the attention, it is important to acknowledge KL Rahul’s contribution to Team India's World Cup 2019 campaign | K.L. Rahul turned it around when it mattered
Meanwhile, the Old Trafford stadium has been made a “no fly zone” for India’s semifinal clash against New Zealand today. More here | Old Trafford airspace to remain shut, ECB informs BCCI
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Blue skies turned dull, cottony tufts of clouds sauntered in but the sun was out too at Old Trafford which geared up for Tuesday’s World Cup semifinal pitting India against New Zealand.
Here's K.C. Vijaya Kumar's match preview
A drizzle has been forecast, perhaps the rain gods are being naughty after having draped a wet curtain on the league fixture between the rivals at Nottingham’s Trent Bridge on June 13.
The weather isn’t exactly a cause for alarm plus there is a reserve day too though rains are predicted for Wednesday. Monday, not the manic one usually seen at Wimbledon, essentially was about the two teams putting a lid on big-game angst. India had optional training and the work-outs were more about relaxing the limbs than exerting them.
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Mohammed Shami tried placing an energy drink bottle on Patrick Farhat’s bald head and the physio squirmed. M.S. Dhoni, padded up for a batting stint, couldn’t resist a kick when he sighted a football. Fun was the underlying theme but fielding coach R. Sridhar meant business as he made Kuldeep Yadav and Rishabh Pant run towards each other while taking high catches. The plan was to fine-tune the “it’s mine” calls in the deep as in the last game involving Sri Lanka, Yadav and Hardik Pandya nearly collided.
Punching above weight
New Zealand turned up later in the afternoon and the happy bunch at full strength bantered away besides practising. Again the focus was to keep the mind and body fresh ahead of a knockout clash. India is the tournament’s form-team and New Zealand remains the underdog that has always punched above its weight. We are talking about a unit that stays deceptive and lasts the course like it did in the 2015 edition where it finished runner-up.
The Black Caps will lean on its batting duo of skipper Kane Williamson (481 runs so far) and Ross Taylor besides all-rounder James Neesham. Its seam attack that includes Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson, Neesham and Matt Henry can be a handful especially if the atmosphere turns moist. Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner may not have got too many wickets but has kept it tight. New Zealand lost its last three contests but the squad cannot be taken for granted.
READ| Light showers forecast for Old Trafford on Ind vs NZ match day
Riding the momentum
Virat Kohli will remember that his opponent had prevailed by six wickets in the warm-up joust at the Oval on May 25. Since then India gained heft, defeated Bangladesh in a practice skirmish and enjoyed a red-hot streak barring a loss to England. Momentum, that magical thing that skippers talk about, vests with the Men in Blue.
Rohit Sharma’s mountain of runs (647) inclusive of five centuries and the staggering support he found in K.L. Rahul and Kohli have helped India cope with a middle-order that hasn’t exactly lit up the charts. Pandya, Pant and Dhoni had their moments and the first-named has become the prime distributor of sixes while Dinesh Karthik is still feeling his way.
READ| World Cup 2019 India vs New Zealand semifinal reserve day: All you need to know
Primarily what helps Kohli is the knowledge that he has excellent speedsters with Jasprit Bumrah and Shami leading the way while Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s expensive phase against Sri Lanka may be deemed an aberration. It remains to be seen if Kohli will retain Ravindra Jadeja and perhaps bring in one among the wrist spinners – Yuzvendra Chahal and Yadav.
The last five outings on the surface here favoured the team taking the first strike including India which defeated Pakistan and the West Indies. The pitches have slowed down over the last fortnight and scoreboard-pressure becomes a raging beast at the last-four stage. The toss will be interesting but Kohli's men would like to believe that they are fully prepared.
The match will be streamed live on Hotstar.
Hello and welcome to Sportstar's live coverage of the reserve day from the first World Cup 2019 semifinal match between India and New Zealand at Old Trafford in Manchester.
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