2023 World Cup final: Shami, Kohli and Iyer shine as India storm into World Cup title clash after beating New Zealand by 70 runs in semis; to meet winners of South Africa-Australia tie in Ahmedabad

India Move into World Cup Final: India stormed into the title clash of the 2023 ICC World Cup, beating New Zealand by 70 runs runs in the first semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday (November 15). After winning the last-four match courtesy Mohammed Shami's seven wickets, Virat Kohli's record-breaking century, and Shreyas Iyer's second successive ton, India are set to play against the winners of the South Africa vs Australia Semi-final 2 match, scheduled to be played at the Eden Gardens on Thursday (November 16). The final of the 50-over World Cup is set to be played at India's biggest sports arena-the Narendra Modi stadium-in Ahmedabad on November 19 (Sunday).
Against New Zealand on Wednesday, India piled up 397 runs for four wickets in 50 overs after Kohli's record 50th ODI century (117 runs in 113 balls), Iyer's second successive ton (105 runs in 70 balls) and Shubman Gill's fine knock of 80 runs in 66 balls interrupted with him being retired hurt. From New Zealand, Tim Southee took three wickets, but he also gave away 100 runs in 10 overs. Mohammed Shami sent New Zealand openers Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra cheaply. But Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson 69 runs (73 balls) and Deryll Mitchell helped their team stage a superb recovery. But in the 33rd over, Shami first got Williamson's wicket and on the next ball got Tom Latham's wicket to break New Zealand's momentum. Shami ended up with a seven-wicket haul to fast-track India's win. 
On his way to the 50th century on Wednesday, Kohli broke three records of Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli became the first batsman in ODI history to score 50 centuries, improving on Tendulkar's record of 49 tons. He also became the highest run getter in a single World Cup, breaking Tendulkar's record of 673 runs at the 2003 World Cup. Kohli also became the first cricketer to have eight 50-plus scores in a single World. The record was jointly held by Tendulkar and Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh, who had scored seven half-centuries each at the 2003 and 2019 World Cups, respectively.
India have had a dream run at the 2023 World Cup so far, winning all of their nine round-robin matches and the semi-final. New Zealand, on the other, entered the last-four stage with five wins and four losses. New Zealand beat India at the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup. In fact, before the loss on Wednesday, New Zealand had never lost to India in the knockout match of a ICC tournament.