India win toss, opt to bat first against New Zealand

Sports Desk:

Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bat first against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Both India and New Zealand are playing with the same teams that they fielded in their final group stage games.

There are so many similarities between the two teams. Both India and New Zealand were at one stage undefeated with four wins from four matches, but while the Men in Blue stretched it to an unprecedented 9-0, the Kiwis stuttered to lose four on the bounce – against India, Australia, South Africa and Pakistan. And yet, battling all mathematical calculations and after defeating Sri Lanka, their path to the semis was sealed – not because they were ruthless – but mostly because teams like Pakistan and England underperformed and Afghanistan and the Netherlands punched above their weight.

Playing XI:

New Zealand: 1 Devon Conway, 2 Rachin Ravindra, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Mark Chapman, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Trent Boult

India: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Suryakumar Yadav, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Mohammed Shami, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed Siraj