After the completion of group stage format or the round-robin of ICC World Cup 2019, the tournament is all set to start its semi-finals round on 9th July 2019.
In the last matches of the group stage format, we saw India vs Sri Lanka and Australia vs South Africa match on 6 July 2019 at Headingley, Leeds and Old Trafford, Manchester, respectively. On July 6, India won against Sri Lanka by 7 wickets and South Africa won against Australia by 10 runs.
With the last win of team India against Sri Lanka, they made their position secured at the first in the ICC World Cup 2019 Point Table. And, on the other hand, with the last defeat against South Africa, Australia dropped down to the second position in the point table.
Now, it’s the time for the first semi-final round which is going to be held between India and New Zealand on July 9. The grass at the Old Trafford has been watered and rolled as well as brand logos are being painted. Now it is the time for real action for which every cricket fan has been waiting for.
Match Details
- Competing teams: India vs New Zealand
- Date: 9th July 2019
- Time: 3:00 pm IST and 10:30 am Local
- Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester
Teams Performances in 2019 ICC World Cup
India
India has won the world cup for two times that is in the year 1983 and in 2011 edition. India was also the runner up in 2003 edition against Australia. In this edition of World Cup, team India played its opening match on 5 June 2019 against South Africa at Rose Bowl, Southampton, where India won by 6 wickets. South Africa scored 227/9 in 50 overs, on the other hand, India scored 230/4 in 47.3 overs. India vs Australia was the second match of team India in ICC World Cup 2019 where India won by 36 runs. The third match of team India was against New Zealand which was abandoned due to heavy rain. Their fourth match was against Pakistan where India won by 89 runs (DLS method). Their fifth match was against Afghanistan where India won by 11 runs and in their next match India won by 125 runs against West Indies. India lost their previous match against England by 31 runs. In their last match in the group stage, India won by 7 wickets.
New Zealand
Team New Zealand, they have played their opening match on 1 June 2019 at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, where New Zealand won by 10 wickets. And their second match was held on 5 June 2019 at the Oval, London, where New Zealand won by 2 wickets. The third match of New Zealand was played against Afghanistan, where New Zealand won by seven wickets. The fourth match against India was abandoned due to heavy rain. New Zealand won by 4 wickets in their fifth match against South Africa. Their next match was against West Indies where New Zealand won by 5 runs. In their seventh match against Pakistan, they lost by 6 wickets. Australia won by 86 runs against New Zealand in the next match and in their last match of the group stage, England won by 119 runs against New Zealand.
What are the Teams Saying?
India captain Virat Kohli said about the Semi-final round, “We wanted to play good cricket but we didn’t expect to have such a good record going into the semis. It’s an honor for all of us to play together for India. We don’t want to be one-dimensional in the knockout stages, and we will try to find the right balance depending on the conditions and pitches.
He added, “The opposition has never mattered to us – we focus on what we can bring to the table. Regardless of who we play in the semi-finals, we just want to play a good game and get the result.”
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, on the other hand, said, “So much to learn from, and the most important thing is to look at where we need to be as a group and look at how we can add value on whatever surface it is. There is a lot of learning curves and we need to adapt to a lot of different surfaces.
“In some ways, it starts again with the semi-final. We know we haven’t played our best cricket and hopefully, we’ll get that opportunity. Ferguson’s injury was precautionary and I’m very confident he’ll be fit in a few days’ time.”
Well, both the teams are going to give their best and the first semi-final match is going to be very interesting as well as thrilling as the tension is rising. Well, we can just cheer them and wish them All the Best.
