After losing semi-finals against Newzealand to an unexpected 18-run defeat, Indian captain Virat Kohli admitted that India had paid the price for “45 minutes of bad cricket”. The team needed just 240 to reach finals but India lost miserably in their run chase. To the pace bowling of Matt Henry and Trent Boult, India lost 3 wickets as early as the first three overs and then reduced to 24-4 and 92-6. However, Ravindra Jadeja stole the attention with his inspiring batting and scored 77 runs out of 59 balls, making him the second-highest scorer in No.8 in World Cup.
Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Kohli were disappointing as they only managed one run apiece. Kohli told in a press meet that “We’ve played outstanding cricket throughout this tournament. To just go out on the basis of 45 minutes of bad cricket is saddening”. He said that they were confident when the team restricted black caps to 239-8, which is chaseable on any surface, on Tuesday.
He went on to praise NZ bowlers saying, “The credit to the New Zealand bowlers, the way they bowled with the new ball, moving it around, it was an outstanding skill level on display and they made life very difficult for our batsmen.” Matt Henry sent back Rohit Sharma in his first over and Trent Boult saw the back of Kohli with a massive inswinger, resulting in lbw.
Later, the 116-stand between Jadeja and MS Dhoni couldn’t see India through as wickets started tumbling soon after Jadeja’s departure. The disappointing semifinal exit made India fans devastated and sad. “Today, we were not good enough. That’s the nature of the tournament, one bad day at this stage and you are out of this tournament,†Kohli added.
