Indian captain Rohit Sharma has won the toss and elected to bat first in Wednesday’s semi-final against New Zealand in Mumbai.
The hosts are currently 0-27 in the fourth over with Sharma (16*) and opening partner Shubman Gill (8*) unbeaten in the middle.
MATCH CENTRE: India vs New Zealand live updates, scorecard and more
India has been the outstanding team at the 2023 Cricket World Cup so far but New Zealand insist both sides will “start from zero again” when they meet at Wankhede Stadium.
Tournament hosts India head into the knockout match having won all nine of their group games, with star man Virat Kohli the event’s leading batsman with 594 runs and captain Rohit Sharma not far behind on 503.
India also boast a formidable bowling line-up however they have been waiting since a 2011 triumph over Sri Lanka in Mumbai to win a third World Cup title, while their last major piece of silverware was the 2013 Champions Trophy.
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Rohit wary of bogey side New Zealand | 01:43
New Zealand, losing finalists at the last two 50-over World Cups, won their opening four games of this edition only to lose their next four.
But New Zealand fast bowler Lachie Ferguson told reporters ahead of a training session in Mumbai on Monday: “We kind of all start from zero again. So come Wednesday, it’ll be a good challenge.”
Four years ago, New Zealand defeated India by just 18 runs in a rain-affected World Cup semi-final in Manchester that spanned two days.
The winner of tonight’s match will face either Australia or South Africa in the final, with those teams facing off on Thursday night. Follow all of the build-up and live action from the first semi-final below.
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HOSTS GET THEIR WAY WITH PITCH REQUEST
India are certainly making their home ground advantage count, with a slow pitch expected at the Wankhede Stadium after team management reportedly had a request granted by BCCI curators.
The Indian Express reported Indian officials asked BCCI curators to shave off most of the grass on the playing surface, deciding on their preference after the win over the Netherlands in Bengaluru.
A Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) official reportedly confirmed to the newspaper a message was conveyed to prepare a slow track before the home team reached Mumbai.
“It won’t be a turner but the team had asked for a slow pitch. It was the main reason we shaved off the grass,” a source told the newspaper.
India have proved hard to beat on slow wickets at home in recent years, and chasing has proved difficult at the Wankhede during the tournament, with Glenn Maxwell’s heroic 200-run knock delivering the only successful pursuit in four games held there.
Meanwhile an email from ICC pitch consultant Andy Atkinson complained the pitch for the final may be a slower one, previously used twice, instead of the one intended.
The tournament’s opening game in Ahmedabad took place on the pre-agreed pitch No. 6 but none of the next three matches conformed to the schedule.
He was then told by the ICC’s senior events manager at the stadium the India v Pakistan game on October 14 took place on pitch No. 7, when it actually took place on pitch No.5.
Atkinson warned in an email: “As a result of these actions, one must speculate if this will be the first ever ICC CWC final to have a pitch which has been specifically chosen and prepared to their stipulation at the request of the team management and/or the hierarchy of the home nation board.
“Or will it be selected or prepared without favouritism for either of the sides competing in the match in the usual manner, and unquestionably because it is the usual pitch for the occasion?”
The BCCI said the Gujarat Cricket Association authorised the changes while the GCA claimed they were acting under instructions from the BCCI, with the requests coming from Indian team management, claimed the Daily Mail.
“I can’t believe that. No, I shouldn’t say that … I can believe this absolutely, that this is happening,” SEN radio host Gerard Whateley said.
“I think it’s outrageous. This is an international tournament.
“Prepare the pitches however you like for your home series, every nation has the choice to do that if they want to.
“But this is an international tournament, it hasn’t quite felt that way.
“It’s felt like a tournament in India for India and for India to win.
“This is evidently going on.”
“It’s one thing when you’re the host nation of your own Test series for the team to influence the preparation for the pitch.
“It just shouldn’t be happening at an international tournament.
“It is just so brazened as to be breathtaking and confirms everything that we know about pitch preparation in India. No matter how much denial there is of it.”
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