The first semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 will be between New Zealand and the hosts India. Both sides have faced each other in the semi-final of previous edition of World Cup too. The semi-final is at Wankhede Stadium Mumbai on 15th November 2023. Following is the India vs New Zealand Match Preview.
India vs New Zealand Today Match Preview
Team India finished on top of the points table with 9/9 wins while the Kiwis finished on 4th spot. India and New Zealand played one game against each other in the league stage which India won by 4 wickets. They had to chase 274 which they chased in the 48th over.
India had a rather comfortable group stage journey as compared to the Kiwis. New Zealand started their world cup 2023 journey with 4 straight wins and then lost 4 matches. They won their final group match and made it to the semi-finals.
Based on current form and home advantage, India are definitely the favorites but the Kiwis are no less than their nightmare. New Zealand has faced India thrice in ICC Knockout matches and has managed to beat them on all 3 occasions (CT 2000, WC 19 and WTC 21).
In this World Cup, only once a successful chase has been possible at the Wankhede stadium, so both sides would want to bat first and try to defend here. The average first innings total at Wankhede is 357 and both the sides have the capability to score big. Both have inform batters to pile up these many runs. It would be very interesting to see if India is asked to bowl first, then what lines their bowlers will bowl on a batting friendly surface.
Overall, Team India will be the 60 percent favorites of this game, but you can not count out the Kiwis.
India vs New Zealand First ODI 2023 Playing XI
New Zealand
The Kiwis are still unlikely to make any change. Only Lockie Ferguson will comeback.
Probable XI: Devon Conway, 2 Rachin Ravindra, 3 Kane Williamson (C), 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Mark Chapman, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Trent Boult
India
India will look forward to continue with their regular combination and avoid making any change in this crucial phase of the event now.
Probable XI: 1 Rohit Sharma (C), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Suryakumar Yadav, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Mohammed Shami, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed Siraj
India vs New Zealand Head to Head
Overall in the World Cup both sides have played 9 games with the Kiwis winning 5 and India winning 4. In ICC tournaments’ knockouts, New Zealand have won all 3 games against India. Overall, 117 ODI Matches have been played between these two sides with India winning 59 and New Zealand winning 50.
Players to Watch Out for
Virat Kohli has been amazingly consistent in this event. In his last 10 ODIs he averages 90+ with the bat and he has also started rising up in the ODI batter rankings. Although Kohli has a tag on his back that he doesn’t perform in knockouts, but it is high time for him to change that and score big this time. Rohit Sharma’s impactful runs at the start will be crucial and the inform Shreyas Iyer will also be someone to watch out for.
Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav will be the bowlers to watch-out for. Bumrah has 20 wickets in his last 10 ODI matches and he will be licking his lips while bowling with the new ball. Kuldeep Yadav has been someone whose variety and skill has been unplayable for the batters. With 14 wickets in 9 games in this tournament, Kuldeep will be the surprise challenge for the Kiwis in the semi-final.
The young man Rachin Ravindra has carried the Kiwi team on his back when it comes to batting. Rachin has 565 runs in this World Cup and he is the third highest run getter of this World Cup. It might be a bit too much to expect from a youngster but since he has been in remarkable form, the Kiwis would expect him to score big once again. In the group match against India, Rachin scored 75 with the bat.
Mitchell Santner, with 16 wickets, is the top wicket taker of New Zealand in this event. Mitchell has already troubled India many times and once again the Kiwi fans will have high hopes from him.
India vs New Zealand Toss Prediction
India is likely to win the toss and they will opt to bat first.
New Zealand vs India Win Prediction
India is the 60 percent favorite to win this game.
