Confirmed: India To Face New Zealand In Cricket World Cup Semi-finals As Pakistan Get Eliminated
NDTV
India To Face New Zealand In Cricket World Cup Semi-finals As Pakistan Get Eliminated
It is confirmed! India will face New Zealand in the semi-finals of the Cricket World Cup 2023 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday. In the other semi-final, South Africa will face Australia at the Eden Gardens on Thursday. The semi-final line-up was confirmed after the Babar Azam-led Pakistan got officially eliminated from World Cup 2023 after failing to chase a huge 338-run target in 6.4 overs against England - which was always going to be an impossible task.
After New Zealand's win over Sri Lanka on Thursday, the 2019 Cricket World Cup runners-up had all but assured themselves a semi-final spot. However, Pakistan and Afghanistan still had mathematical chance to qualify for the last four. They both needed to win their last round-robin matches by humongous margins to have a shot at a semi-final spot.
However, Afghanistan lost their last round-robin stage match to South Africa on Friday. On Saturday, Pakistan also needed a miracle. After England put up 337/9, Pakistan needed to chase down the target in just 6.4 overs, which was not impossible in all practical sense. Pakistan reached 30/2 in 6.4 overs against Defending champions England.
In the 2019 Cricket World Cup, India lost to New Zealand in the semi-finals. However, this time India have looked a must greater force with all the players in form.