India blast way to Cricket World Cup final after beating New Zealand

India maintained their perfect record at their home Cricket World Cup as they sealed a place in Sunday’s final by beating New Zealand in Mumbai.

Virat Kohli scored a historic 50th one-day international century and Mohammed Shami took seven wickets, as the Indians claimed a 70-run victory.

It was their 10th win in a row in the competition. They will play the winners of Thursday’s second semi-final between Australia and South Africa in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

All the talk ahead of the toss had been of the home curator’s decision to swap the pitch a day before the game.

Instead of a fresh strip, the game was to be played on one that had been used twice in the tournament already.

It’s questionable what exactly it was previously used for: maybe as a road. Yet again, it was a batter’s paradise.

“Changes to planned pitch rotations are common towards the end of an event of this length, and has already happened a couple of times,” the ICC said.

Their statement, released just after the start of the game, said they expected the pitch to play well.

Certainly, it was to the liking of the batters. From the off, they feasted. Rohit Sharma started it all with 47 off 29 balls.

His opening partner, Shubman Gill, followed his captain’s lead. He retired hurt on 79 off 65 deliveries, before returning at the end of the innings to add just one more.

1983 ➡️ 2011 ➡️ 2023❓

India are into the #CWC23 Final