Match 21 happened in Dharamshala at the HPCA stadium. India played against New Zealand. It was a big deal because both teams hadn’t lost any games in the tournament before this match. New Zealand had been winning against India in these special tournaments for 20 years. India won the toss and chose to bowl first.
The game began with India’s bowlers doing well. They got two wickets early, and New Zealand only had 19 runs on the scoreboard. Then, something important happened. Two players from New Zealand, R Ravindra and D Mitchell, made a big partnership and added 159 runs to their team’s score. But this partnership ended when R Ravindra got caught by Gill off Shami’s bowl.
D Mitchell kept playing well and scored 130 runs before getting out in the 50th over. The other New Zealand players couldn’t do much, and they lost wickets in quick interval. Mohammed Shami, who was playing his first match in the tournament, was the star. He got five wickets. India’s bowlers worked together to stop New Zealand at 273 runs.
India’s turn to bat came. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill started with a 71-run partnership, but both of them got out when India had 76 runs. Then, Virat Kohli and Shreyesh made a partnership of 52 runs before Shreyesh got out. After that, Kohli and KL Rahul added 54 runs together before Rahul got out because of a special rule called “leg before wicket.”
In a sad moment, Surya, who was playing his first World Cup match, got run out because of some miscommunication. Even with these problems, Kohli and Jadeja kept India close to the target. Kohli was very close to getting his 49th century, but he got out just when India needed one more boundary to win. In the end, Jadeja hit the winning boundary, and India won the match by five wickets. Fergusson from New Zealand took two wickets during this time.
Mohammed Shami was the best player in the match. He took five wickets for just 54 runs in his 10 overs. That’s why he was called the “Player of the Match.” This match was important because India hadn’t beaten New Zealand in this kind of tournament for 20 years. It showed how good both teams were and how exciting one-day international cricket can be. Cricket fans will remember this match for a long time.
| Match No-21 | ||||
| HPCA Stadium, Dharamshala | 22 October 2023 | Toss-India | ||
| Newzealand | India | India won by 5 wickets | ||
| 273(50) | 274(48) | |||
| D Mitchell-130(127) R Ravindra-75(87) | L Ferguson-2/63 | V Kohli-95(104) R Sharma-46(40) | M Shami-5/54 K Yadav-2/73 | POM Md Shami for his 5/54 |
| ICC MEN’S CRICKET WORLD CUP POINTS TABLE | ||||||||
| Rank | Team | Played | Won | Loss | NR | Points | NRR | Remarks |
| 1 | India | 5 | 5 | 0 | – | 10 | +1.353 | |
| 2 | Newzealand | 5 | 4 | 0 | – | 8 | +1.481 | |
| 3 | South Africa | 4 | 3 | 1 | – | 6 | +2.212 | |
| 4 | Australia | 4 | 2 | 2 | – | 4 | -0.193 | |
| 5 | Pakistan | 4 | 2 | 2 | – | 4 | -0.456 | |
| 6 | Bangladesh | 4 | 1 | 3 | – | 2 | -0.699 | |
| 7 | Netherland | 4 | 1 | 3 | – | 2 | -0.790 | |
| 8 | Sri Lanka | 4 | 1 | 3 | – | 2 | -1.048 | |
| 9 | England | 4 | 1 | 3 | – | 2 | -1.248 | |
| 10 | Afghanistan | 4 | 1 | 3 | – | 2 | -1.250 | |
