Dharamshala: New Zealand lost both their openers Devon Conway (0) and Will Young (17) early after being put to bat by India captain Rohit Sharma at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) stadium in Dharamsala on Sunday.
Mohammed Siraj struck in the fourth over and the first wicket fell when Devon Conway tried to push a ball for a boundary but sent it straight into the hands of Shreyas Iyer. India pacer Mohammad Shami, who replaced Hardik Pandya in the game, then picked a wicket off his first ball of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 tournament when he clean bowled New Zealand’s opener Will Young.
On 12 off 21, Rachin Ravindra was, however, dropped by Ravindra Jadeja after Mohammed Shami got the batter to cut a ball towards backward point. This rare lapse by Ravindra Jadeja caught everyone’s attention and the visible disappointment of his wife, Rivaba Jadeja, in the stands, added to the drama. Her reaction came up immediately on the giant screen at the stadium.
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Earlier, Rachin also used DRS to save himself from a caught behind decision of the on-field umpire off a delivery by Shami as the replay showed the ball flipped off his trackpants.
After 18 overs, New Zealand are 72/2 with Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell trying to put the Kiwis innings back in track with 50-run stand after the early wickets.
The India Captain had won the toss and chosen to bowl first in the top-of-the-table clash with New Zealand in Match 21 of the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023. He said that they chose to bowl first since a lot of dew was seen later in the day while they were practising here. Tom Latham also admitted that New Zealand would have bowled first as well. “Looks a good surface, and we know the dew will come in,” he said.
This is fifth consecutive game in which India is chasing while also aiming for their fifth win on trot.
Mohammad Shami and Suryakumar Yadav have come in for Shardul Thakur and Hardik Pandya, respectively.
Team India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.
Meanwhile, New Zealand are unchanged.
Team New Zealand: Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham(w/c), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult
For the record, New Zealand have never lost to India in any ICC tournament matches in the last 20 years. “Looks like a good pitch, we’ll back ourselves to chase. Quite important to keep the momentum going, forget what happened in the past. Need to be at it all the time,” Rohit added on India’s history against New Zealand.
India have played four games at the venue. They have won two and lost two.
