2023 Cricket World Cup New Zealand vs India, Who Enter Final?

2023 Cricket World Cup is coming to a end, New Zealand vs India game will be the first semi-final of the 2023 World Cup between the first and fourth-ranked sides in the points table. The contest unfolds on Wednesday Nov 15th, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

The tournament is finally getting closer to its business end, and this knockout punch will be one cracker of a contest.

India is yet to lose a match in this tournament as they cleanly swept all teams in the league stage. But the semi-final is a different ball game, as one bad day could take them out of the competition.

On the other hand, New Zealand had its ups and downs in the competition as they started the campaign with four wins of the trot with comprehensive margins.

The Kiwis then lost their mojo and lost four consecutive games, which opened the door for other teams and made this event more enthralling.

They eventually won the all-important contest against Sri Lanka, which ensured their semi-final spot.

New Zealand vs South Africa: Past records

New Zealand and India have played a lot of cricket against each other and met 117 times in ODIs, where the Men in Blue came out victorious 59 times. NZ won on 50 occasions with seven games getting tied.

The story is slightly different in the ICC ODI World Cups, where the two giants came across 10 times. New Zealand won five times, and India got it right four times.

Having a slightly better record may give a mental edge to the Kiwis.

Probable Man of the Match Award Winner

Here are the list for 2023 Cricket World Cup New Zealand vs India probable Man of the Match winner:

Rohit Sharma

This World Cup has seen exceptional consistency and dominance for Rohit Sharma; he has taken charge throughout the competition against every quality bowling attack.

He has been batting with an aggressive intent at the top, providing a solid platform for the middle order to build a mammoth total on.

This template is risky, but it has worked for the Indian team nicely thus far, as high risk gives high reward.

The local boy of Wankhede will be one of the hot pics to watch out for, and 1.3 billion people would hope that he continues to bat similarly.

The 35-year-old right-hander is fairly criticized for his slightly below-par numbers in ICC knockouts, and this could be the best opportunity for him to change his numbers.

The Indian fans have been living a dream of the glory of the World Cup.

This team has something extra that could take them over the line, and much of the onus is on their skipper.

This could be Sharma's last ODI World Cup, so he would give everything to win it for India.

Kane Williamson

The last few months have been awful for Kane Williamson in international cricket, as certain injuries have kept him distant from competitive cricket.

His knee injury in the IPL opening game kept him out of cricket for 6 months.

The Kiwi skipper had to return in this World Cup, and during one game, the ball hitting his gloves while batting ensured that the Kiwi skipper missed most of the World Cup games.

The 33-year right-hander finally made a comeback and scored a captivating 95 against Pakistan, which was relieving for New Zealand fans.

He has scored 178 runs thus far in the competition, but he can never be taken for granted for a big knockout contest against India.

The last time these two teams met in the World Cup 2019 knockout, his steady 68 on a challenging Edgbastan wicket ensured that his team got a respectable score to defend.

Keeping his experience and past performances in check, it will be important from team India's point of view that he remains quiet in that game.

Trent Boult

It is often said that batters win you games, but bowlers win you tournaments.

If New Zealand has to take steps to the World Cup glory further, they must knock off India's top order.

Trent Boult would be important in letting that happen; his first spell against the Indian top order could be a battle to watch out for.

Indian top order has batted with fair dominance throughout the tournament with the new ball, including the league stage game against the Kiwis.

Having said all that, still knockout pressure, past haunting memories and the feeling of not having done well against a particular opponent in do-die games could be the fundamental reasons that Boult gets top of them.

India's invincible team can go much further ahead in the game if there is no major havoc for them early on with the new ball.

The left-arm quick has taken 13 wickets in the tournament, and he would be eyeing to add more scalps.

New Zealand vs India Match Prediction

It could be a close contest, and predicting who will be ahead of this game is tough.

So many inside battles within this game define who would have the upper hand.

How the Indian top order bats against Kiwi’s quicks with the new ball under lights, assuming they bat second, and how their batters react against the quality spin attack of India.

All these things are so important in the context of this game.

India would start this game slightly as favorites, and nobody should be surprised if they continue their dominance in the competition.

The men in blue are not only so well equipped with the bat, but their bowlers have shown immense potency, which can dismantle any batting attack.

Since the injury of Hardik Pandya, they are playing their 3 main wicket-taking options along with 2 quality spinners, making them deadly dangerous.

The hosts have always won the championships in the last 3 ICC ODI world cups. They use the home conditions better than the other sides.

India is no different, and it looks like they are all set to clinch this game and get an inch closer to the World Cup trophy.