ODI World Cup digest: India fill their boots and stay unbeaten, now for the knockouts

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ODI World Cup digest: India fill their boots and stay unbeaten, now for the knockouts


The Men’s ODI World Cup 2023 has reached the semi-final stage in the race to play the final on November 19. Each morning we’ll round up the latest action and news from the event and bring you insights from our reporters on the ground.

India 410 for 4 (Shreyas 128*, Rahul 102, Rohit 61, Kohli 51, Gill 51) won Netherlands 250 (Nidamanuru 54, Engelbrecht 45) for 160 runs

Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul led India’s batting masterclass as the hosts completed their unbeaten run to the knockouts with a hammer blow against the Netherlands, who ended their World Cup with a 160-run defeat.
Centurions Shreyas and Rahul put together a 208-run partnership after a 100-run stand between first-wicket pair Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill set the stage for India’s 410 for 4. Virat Kohli also passed fifty and scored 71 with Shreyas as Holland. The bowlers, save for a brief period while Kohli went to bed, had no rebuttal to an Indian batting line-up that blew the door off its hinges when he burst into the room and delivered an overwhelming monologue with the home crowd hanging on every word.

Match analysis: Rahul’s moves change to finally show the World Cup his full range

The bowled sixes have a special place in World Cup history. Viv Richards vs. Mike Hendrick. Yashpal Sharma vs. Bob Willis.

KL Rahul off Paul van Meekeren probably won’t join those two shots in cricket folklore. It didn’t come in a final or semi-final, but in a rubber league match against one of the weakest attacks in the tournament. And the six launched are no longer momentous events. Sixes bowled in 2023 are perhaps as common as sixes of any kind in the 1979 and 1983 ODIs.

What was notable about this particular photo, then, was that it took Rahul until the last league match of the tournament to reveal it in this World Cup.

Must watch: Anil Kumble assesses India

Preparation for the semi-finals: Labuschagne vs Stoinis: Australia’s big decision

Marnus Labuschagne or Marcus Stoinis. Who survives? For the first time in this ODI World Cup, Australia appear to have a full complement of 15 players to select for their semi-final against South Africa, meaning the selectors will finally have to make a decision on the structure of the top seven.

Every time during the group stage it seemed like a decision needed to be made, there was a natural vacancy. This means there is no need to decide who will miss out yet, but barring further injury concerns before facing South Africa on Thursday, that time will come in Kolkata.

Preparation for semi-finals: SA ‘artistic hunters’ draw inspiration from tiki-tika for World Cup success

Tiki-taka is a style of play mainly associated with the Spanish soccer team that won the 2010 World Cup, which was held in South Africa (so perhaps the link exists) and is basically about maintaining possession, usually by short passes. Translating it into cricket strategy is not easy, but Enoch Nkwe, South Africa’s director of cricket, explains it as an understanding of how to “rebuild without having to put yourself under pressure and continue to move the game forward.”