Bengaluru: After a spectacular batting show by all the top 5 batters, Indian bowlers demolished the Netherlands’s batting and sent all the players to the pavilion in 47.5 overs. With this, India thrashed the Netherlands by a whopping 160 runs and continued its winning streak by winning 9 straight matches in the World Cup 2023.
Chasing a MASSIVE 411 runs, the Netherlands kept losing wickets at quick intervals. Apart from Teja Nidamanuru (54), no other player could cross 50 runs. For the Netherlands, Sybrand Engelbrecht scored 45 runs, Colin Ackermann scored 35 and Max O’Dowd hit 30 runs. All the other batters scored less than 20 runs.
For India, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja took 2 wickets each. Interestingly, after years, both Virat Kohli and skipper Rohit Sharma bowled and picked one wicket each.
Shreyas Iyer became the ‘Player of the Match’ for scoring 128 in 94 balls.
Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul hit hundreds while India’s top-order batsmen all sparkled as the World Cup hosts, already bound for the semi-finals, posted a mammoth 410-4 from 50 overs against the Netherlands in their final group-stage game.
Shubman Gill smashed a quick-fire half-century as India were once again off to a flying start, reaching 119 for 1 after 15 overs in their final World Cup league game against Netherlands.
Gill scored 51 off 32 balls and added exactly 100 for the opening stand with his skipper Rohit Sharma (60 batting off 48 balls) before holing out at deep backward square leg boundary, going for his fifth six.
It is the third time in the tournament that India crossed the 90-run mark (91/0) in the first Powerplay. Rohit with two sixes in the first 15 overs has now hit a record 60 sixes in a calendar year, surpassing AB de Villiers’ previous record of 58 maximums in 2015.
Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat first at the MA Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru. The Men in Blue have made no changes in their playing XI which means that the Bengaluru fans will get a chance to cheer for their King Kohli’s 50th ODI century.
The Rohit Sharma-led side are the only team in the tournament to not have lost a single game yet and will look to keep the momentum going into the semi-final game. Meanwhile, the Netherlands, who are already out of the tournament will look to have a memorable last game in the World Cup 2023 by defeating the two-time world champions.
The Men in Blue are at the top of the World Cup points table with 8 wins in the 8 clashes so far and a net run rate of +2.456. Meanwhile, the Dutch on the number 10 spot with 6 points and a net run rate of -1.635.
Ahead of the semi-final clash on November 15, Indian team management might look to rest a few key players like Virat Kohli, Kl Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah or even the skipper himself. Instead, Rohit and Co. might look to give some game time to left-handed batter Ishan Kishan, all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin or even pacer Prasidh Krishna.
Indian team have had everything going for them in the tournament with all three departments firing up. While Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill have often provided an explosive start in the powerplay, the middle over batters have helped post a steady total on the board. In terms of bowling, the pace trio of Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami have been the envy of all teams in the tournament. Shami, in particular, has been exceptional in the tournament with 16 wickets in the 4 matches played so far.
