India ride high on Kohli's splendid knock to register fifth successive win

Virat Kohli anchored another tricky chase with perfection after Mohammad Shamis sizzling fivewicket haul as India defeated New Zealand by four wickets in the ICC World Cup 2023 on Sunday their first win over Black Caps in an ICC event after 20 yearsShami 554 starred with the ball to restrict New Zealand to 273 all out despite Daryl Mitchells gutsy 130 off 127 ballsKohli 95 off 104 later anchored Indias chase with a near blemishfree knock and shared three crucial 50run stands with Shreyas Iyer 33 KL Rahul 27 and Ravindra Jadeja 39 not out to guide his side home in 48 oversWith India on the cusp of victory Kohli went for the record equalling 49th ODI hundred but much to the disappointment of a packed crowd at the HPCA stadium he was caught in the deepChasing 274 Shubman Gill 26 relied on his exquisite timing to find boundaries while Rohit Sharma 46 played the power gameGill drove Trent Boult through extra cover and square to pick up backtoback boundaries in the seventh over He then flicked Matt Henry through midon and midwicket to bring up Indias 50 in just 74 oversRohit looked in ominous touch as he just planted his foot forward and lapswept Henry to the backward square leg boundary and then followed it up with a six over midoff two balls laterRohit was lucky as he was dropped by New Zealand skipper Tom Latham behind the stumps off Mitchell Santner in the next over and he punished the leftarm spinner by tonking him over deep midwicket for a six the very next ballBut Rohit failed to cash in as he dragged a Lockie Ferguson delivery onto the stumps in the next over to end the dangerouslooking 71run opening standFerguson dealt another blow to India in his next over in the form of Gill who was caught by Mitchell at deep thirdman boundaryKohli then took the innings forward with the help of Iyer 33 off 29 and K L Rahul 27 off 35However two quick wickets of Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav made things little difficult for India before Kohli bailed out the hosts with a 78run sixthwicket stand with Jadeja 39 not outWhile Rahul fell LBW to Mitchell Santner Surya was a victim of an unnecessary mix up with Kohli as India slumped to 191 for 5Kohli however failed to match Sachin Tendulkars record of 49 centuries as he departed in the 48th over while going for a six His knock was studded with eight fours and two sixesAlso ReadShubman Gill becomes fastest batter to score 2000 runs in ODIsIndia though had a rare ordinary day in the field and were guilty of dropping three catches Kuldeep Yadav 273 was the most expensive bowler but got the important wickets of Tom Lathan and Glenn PhillipsSent into bat Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra 75 off 87 balls rescued New Zealand after a poor start sharing 159 runs off 152 balls for the third wicketJasprit Bumrah 145 and Mohammed Siraj 145 also played their part wellThe start was far from rosy for New Zealand who lost Devon Conway early The lefthander flicked a Mohammed Siraj delivery straight to Shreyas Iyer at forward square leg in the fourth overIntroduced into the attack in the ninth over Shami struck with his first ball of the tournament by removing Will Young who played on to an incoming deliveryRegarded as one of Indias best fielders Ravindra Jadeja dropped a sitter at point of Shamis bowling to hand Ravindra a lifeRavindra cashed in on the chance with both hands and together with Mitchell forged a much needed partnership to stabilise the inningsThe duo was particularly severe against Kuldeep Yadav clobbering the leftarm spinner for three huge sixes straight over his headRavindra brought up his fifty off 56 balls while Mitchells halfcentury came in 60 deliveriesThe Indians were sloppy on the field as Mitchell also got a reprieve on 69 in the 33rd over when Jasprit Bumrah dropped an easy chance at the longoff boundaryShami finally broke the partnership in the next over when Ravindra failed to clear the longon boundary handing a simple catch to Shubman GillRavindras wicket hardly bothered Mitchell who continued to play aggressively smashing the Indian bowlers with disdain as New Zealand brought up their 200 in 361 oversKuldeep who was put under pressure for the first time in the competition finally tasted success when he had New skipper Tom Latham LBW with a wrong oneIndia pulled things back significantly by picking up six wickets in the last six overs for only 30 runs