Virat Kohli Equals Sachin Tendulkar's Big World Cup Record With Fifty Against Netherlands

Talismanic batter Virat Kohli failed to score his 50th ODI century but ended up equaling Sachin Tendulkar's record with another half-century during the Cricket World Cup 2023 match between India and Netherlands in Bengaluru on Sunday. This was the 7th half-century for Kohli in this year's Cricket World Cup and he equalled Sachin Tendulkar and Shakib Al Hasan as the batter with the most number of half-centuries in one edition of the tournament. Kohli ended up scoring 51 off 5 deliveries with 5 fours and one six.

Most 50+ scores in a single World Cup edition

7 - Sachin Tendulkar (2003)

7 - Shakib Al Hasan (2019)

7 - Virat Kohli (2023)*

India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first against the Netherlands.

Table-toppers India have won all their eight matches and come in unchanged for the tournament's last league match in Bengaluru.

The hosts were the first team to book a semi-final spot and will play New Zealand at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.

"Good opportunity for us to tick all the boxes. Extremely happy with how we have played this tournament, it makes the job easier as a skipper," said Rohit.

Netherlands made an early impact after they stunned South Africa but remain bottom of the table with just two victories.

Captain Scott Edwards said his team is unchanged from their previous loss to England, but was looking forward to what he feels "is the biggest crowd we've had in the tournament".

Five-time winners Australia and South Africa will play the second semi-final in Kolkata on Thursday.

Teams:

India:Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wkt), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj

Netherlands:Max