ICC World Cup 2019: 1st Semi-Final, India vs New Zealand – Statistical Preview

India and New Zealand couldn’t face off during the league stage match due to the weather but the teams will lock horns on Tuesday in the first semi-final at the Old Trafford. India lost only one game in the league phase; against England by 31 runs while chasing a record score. New Zealand, on the other hand, had the same start as India winning five consecutive games. However, the Blackcaps suffered three straight losses ahead of the knockouts which put them down to No.4 in the points table from being on the top for a while.

All the major stats and numbers that matter ahead of the semi-final game between India and New Zealand:

1 – Only once New Zealand has won a semi-final in the World Cup despite making into final four on seven occasions. Their only semi-final win in CWC came against South Africa in the 2015 edition.

3 – India and New Zealand faced off in three ODI matches in England; all of them in the World Cups. The Kiwis ended on the winning side on all three instances; all the three times while chasing.

3 – New Zealand lost their previous three matches in this tournament; the first instance of the Blackcaps losing three straight matches in a single World Cup edition. The Kiwis did lose three CWC matches in succession once in the past but the three defeats were spread across two editions (last two games in 1979 and 1st game in 1983).

5 – The teams batting first have won all the five matches hosted by the Old Trafford in the World Cup 2019. The average first innings score in those five games reads 323 as three teams scored breached the 300-run mark.

5 – New Zealand lost five consecutive ODI matches they played at the Old Trafford prior to their 5-run win against Windies. Their only other ODI win at this venue came in the 1975 edition against India; the only time India and New Zealand played at this venue.

27 – Kane Williamson got runout on 27 in the previous game against England; his lowest total in 16 ODI innings in England. Prior to this game, Williamson scored 40+ in 15 consecutive ODI innings in England; the longest streak for any player in any country.

31.45 – Virat Kohli has an abysmal batting average of 31.45 in the knockout matches in ODI cricket. He scored 345 runs from 14 innings at an average of 31.36 with 2 fifties in knockouts. The two fifties came in successful chases in the semi-finals of the 2013 and 2017 CT hosted by England. His average drops to 14.4 in World Cup knockouts where he scored only 72 runs from 5 innings with only one 30+ score.

35.1 – New Zealand is one of the two opponents against which Rohit Sharma averages less than 40 in the ODI format (Min: 5 innings) Across 21 innings against the Kiwis, Rohit scored 702 runs at an average of 35.1 with a hundred and four half-centuries.

49 – The bowling strike rate of Indian spinners in this World Cup; the best bowling SR for any team’s spinners in this tournament. However, this is the lowest strike rate for Indian spinners in an ODI series/tournament since the Champions Trophy 2017. (Min: 5 games) The Indian spinners picked up 18 wickets from the 147 overs they bowled in this tournament and have an average of 43.88.

68.52 – Virat Kohli’s batting average of 68.52 in ODI cricket against New Zealand is the 4th best ODI average for any player against a particular team. (Min: 1000 runs) Kohli amassed 1302 runs against the Blackcaps from 22 innings with five centuries and seven fifties.

975 – Martin Guptill needs 25 more runs to complete 1000 runs in the World Cup. Only Stephen Fleming (1075) scored over 1000 runs in the Men’s ODI World Cups for New Zealand thus far. Ross Taylor (913) also has a chance to reach this milestone if he scores 87 more runs.

977 – Runs Rohit Sharma has scored in 16 World Cup matches he played thus far. Rohit needs 23 more runs to become the 4th Indian and the 21st player to aggregate 1000 runs in the CWC. The Indian opener needs to score those 23 runs in next three innings to become the fastest to the milestone.

Rohit (647) is also 27 runs away from scoring the most number of runs in a single edition of World Cup surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s 673 runs in 2003.

2003 – India and New Zealand will face off in a World Cup for the first time since the meeting in Centurion during the 2003 CWC. The two sides met seven times in the World Cup thus far with Team India winning in three of them while New Zealand won four; all while chasing. The two sides haven’t faced off recently in the Champions Trophy either. Their only meeting in that competition was during the 2000 edition final which the Kiwis won.