The pacer captured 7/57 after Kohli’s record 50th ODI century as India won the semis by 70 runs despite Daryl Mitchell’s 134
But the total proved too daunting even for their big-hearted effort.
India were well served by their sultan of swing, Mohammed Shami, who captured seven wickets, as they won the game by 70 runs and enter their fourth final. Winning their 10th game on the trot, they will play the winners of the second semi-finals between South Africa and Australia at Ahmedabad on Sunday.
The home team owed it to their batters though. In one of their most dominant displays in a high-stakes game, the entire Indian top-order clicked. Led by Virat Kohli’s record-breaking 50th century, everyone played their roles to perfection. After Rohit Sharma came out and again provided a blistering start with a 29-ball 47, Kohli anchored the innings with a 113-ball 117.
Shubman Gill maintained the momentum with 80 of 66 balls; Shreyas Iyer came down the order and put the game beyond New Zealand with a blistering 70-ball 105 and KL Rahul proved his versatility by straightaway coming and playing his strokes in the slog overs for a 20-ball 39 not out.
Defending the target, Shami raised hopes of repeating his show against Sri Lanka at Wankhede in the league stage. He removed Devon Conway off his first delivery and reduced New Zealand to 39/2 in 7.4 overs by inducing an edge off Rachin Ravindra too. But Mitchell and Williamson invoked their famous fighting spirit to get back into the game by taking the total to 220.