Follow live: India, Australia meet with semifinal places at stake
2.31pm And that is that. India are in the semis, and they’ll face England in Providence, Guyana, on June 26. If today was revenge for November 19, 2023, they’ll now be looking forward to exacting revenge for November 10, 2022. Who will play the other semi-final, though? South Africa will be one of the teams. The other could be Afghanistan, or Australia, or even Bangladesh. We’ll know later today, after the last match of the Super Eight. It will be thrilling without doubt, so make sure you tune into our coverage. Until then, it’s goodbye from me, Alan, Raghav and Chandan.
Rohit again: “It’s quite satisfying, especially when you play like that. We knew the threat of this opposition, but we kept doing the things we know best, and we can take a lot of confidence from that. 200 is obviously a good score, but when you’re playing on grounds like this where wind is a factor, anything is possible, but I thought we used the conditions very well. It was very pleasing to see how we were getting through those overs and getting the wickets at the same time. Kuldeep, we understand the strengths he has, but you have to use it when you need it. The pitches in New York were seamer-friendly, but we knew he would play a big role later. We don’t want to do anything different [in the knockouts], we want to play the same way, understand what the individuals need to do in a given situation, and play freely. So far we’ve been doing that consistently, and semi-finals, we have to try and do the same thing. It’ll be nice [to play England]. Nothing changes for us, we want to focus on what we can do as a team, and take the game on.”
Mitchell Marsh: “It’s disappointing. Still technically a chance to go through, and today India got the better of us. I think over the course of 40 overs there’s a lot of small margins, but honestly, India were the better team. We’ve seen for 15 years what Rohit Sharma can do in that kind of mood, and he got off to an absolute flier. In a run chase like that, you’re in it if you can keep it at tens for as long as possible, but India were too good for us. Come on, Bangladesh!”
Rohit Sharma, India’s captain, is the Player of the Match. “I thought right from over no. 1, there was a strong breeze blowing across. They changed their plan, bowling against the breeze, so I realised I had to open up the off side as well. You’ve got to factor in the breeze, and understand that the bowlers are smart as well, and open up all sides of the field. When you keep an open mind and not just think of one shot, you can access all areas of the field. It was a good wicket, and you want to try and back yourself to play those kinds of shots. I’ve been trying to do that for a few years now, and I’m glad it came off today. The fifties and hundreds don’t matter, I wanted to bat with the same tempo and carry on. You want to make big scores, yes, but at the same time you want to make the bowlers think where the next shot is coming, and I think I managed to do that today.”
2.15pm India win by 24 runs. A comprehensive margin, far more comprehensive than they would have hoped when Travis Head was smacking them all over the park. Terrific comeback with the ball, begun by Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel and finished off by the fast bowlers. In the end, we can say this was a new-ball pitch for the batters, with the ball not quite coming on in both innings once it became older. India are into the semis, and for Australia, the situation is this: they are out if Afghanistan win tomorrow, or if Bangladesh win big (eg: by 62 runs if they score 160). It’s out of their hands now, a situation they’ve not usually known in big tournaments like this.
JOYDEEP GILL: “This Rohit innings prove in 19th November how crucial catch was taken by Travis head of Rohit if he wasn’t catch that catch then maybe India could’ve been odis champions “
Prasanth: “If BD batted sensibly against India to reduce the margin of defeat, it would have looked easier for them to win today and qualify. Interesting format, one loss and suddenly the exit door is open!”
