Ton-up Daryl Mitchell embraces limelight but lose Kane Williamson in semi-final chase

Daryl Mitchell (Pic: AFP)

India vs New Zealand, ICC World Cup 2023 semi-final: Daryl Mitchell completed a fine hundred only to see two wickets fall quickly at the other end as New Zealand's quest for a record-breaking World Cup semi-final win over India suffered a major setback.

Mitchell came in with New Zealand 39-2, chasing a huge target of 398 at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday. But he responded with an 85-ball century featuring eight fours and five sixes, his second of the tournament against India following 130 in a four-wicket pool defeat by the unbeaten hosts in Dharamsala.

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Together with New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, he put on 181 for the third wicket to give the Black Caps hope of a second successive World Cup semi-final win over India following a 2019 victory in a rain-affected match in Manchester.

Star batsman Williamson, however, fell for 69 when he flicked Mohammed Shami -- who had dropped him on 52 -- straight to Suryakumar Yadav at deep square leg. Two balls later, 220-3 became 220-4 in the 33rd over when Shami had Tom Latham lbw for a duck, with the paceman having taken all four New Zealand wickets to fall.

The most any side have made batting second to win a World Cup semi-final is New Zealand's Duckworth/Lewis adjusted 299-6 against South Africa at Auckland in 2015.

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Earlier, Virat Kohli scored a record-breaking 50th one-day international hundred and Shreyas Iyer made a blistering century of his own as India piled up a commanding 397-4.

Kohli's innings of 117 saw him surpass the mark of 49 hundreds he had shared with Sachin Tendulkar as his compatriot looked on from the stands at the Wankhede Stadium in a capacity 33,000 crowd featuring football star David Beckham. Kohli put on 163 with Iyer, who made 105 off just 70 balls, including four fours and eight sixes.

(With agency inputs)