World Cup 2023: Unbeaten India hammer Netherlands by 160 runs, storm into semis with ninth consecutive win

India continued their dominant march into the semi-finals of the 2023 ICC World Cup with a 160-run thrashing of Netherlands in Bengaluru on Sunday, finishing the league stage of the tournament unbeaten. World Cup 2023: News | Schedule | Results | Points table The Men in Blue underlined their status as the team heavily backed to lift the trophy next Sunday with another clinical display that was headlined by a record-breaking batting performance. India rode on centuries from Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul to post a mammoth 410/4 and would bowl the Dutchmen out for 250 in response to collect their ninth victory in a row and remain the only remaining team in the tournament to not lose a single match so far.

Among the Indian wicket-takers during Sunday’s contest at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium was ’local’ boy Virat Kohli, who missed out on the opportunity to bring up a record 50th ODI ton at his adopted home ground but made the day a memorable one by achieving the rare feat of getting a wicket off his bowling. Later, the winning wicket would go to skipper Rohit Sharma, who dismissed Teja Nidamanuru to seal India’s triumph. Iyer, Rahul highlight India’s middle-order muscle India’s victories so far in the campaign had been headlined by skipper Rohit and Kohli among the batters as well as the efforts of the bowling department, primarily the pace trio of Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. On Sunday, it was the middle-order duo of Iyer and Rahul to steal the spotlight from their teammates. They not only produced scintillating centuries, but added a massive 208 runs for the fourth wicket that ultimately helped India cross the 400-mark. [caption id=“attachment_13380392” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] India wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul celebrates after bringing up a 62-ball century in the ICC World Cup match against Netherlands in Bengaluru. AP[/caption] Rohit and opening partner Shubman Gill had earlier got India off to a flier on what is a batting paradise, bringing up the fifty partnership inside six overs with Logan van Beek conceding 16 in his third after starting on an economical note. The openers would add another 38 in the next four as the Men in Blue reached 91 for no loss at the end of the powerplay. Both Rohit and Gill would depart shortly after bringing up their half-centuries, with the Indian skipper adding another record to his name during his 54-ball knock of 61 — that of most sixes in a calendar year (59), a record that AB de Villiers had previously set with 58 maximums in 2015. Kohli took over from where the openers left off and raised hopes of bringing up a historic 50th ODI ton after going past the half-century mark for the seventh time in nine outings in this World Cup. Roelof van der Merwe, however, would silence the ‘Kohli’ chants that had been doing the round at the Chinnaswamy by cleaning up the star batter in the 29th over, shortly after India crossed 200. Van der Merwe would finish the pick of the bowlers with 1/53 from 10 in the run-fest despite Bas de Leede (2/82) having collected more wickets than him. Kohli’s wicket did slow things momentarily for the Indians with Iyer and and Rahul opting to navigate through the next few overs at a steady pace without too many risks. They would, however, shift gears once the innings entered the final powerplay. While Iyer would bring up his maiden World Cup hundred in 84 deliveries, Rahul was even quicker to the milestone. The wicketkeeper-batter was batting on 37 off 31 at the end of the 40th over, and would collect another 65 in his next 33 before getting dismissed in the penultimate delivery of the innings.

Rahul raced to his second World Cup ton in just 62 deliveries to break the record for the fastest century by an Indian that Rohit had set against Afghanistan just last month as India ended up with the second highest total in the ongoing tournament. Rohit and Co decide to have some fun with the ball Whatever little chances Netherlands had of signing off from the tournament with another upset victory extinguished once the Indians had gone past the 300-mark, and for Scott Edwards’ men, the focus was on putting up a strong display with the bat even if they were well on their way to a seventh defeat in nine outings. That too appeared in danger after Mohammed Siraj had Wesley Barresi — who like Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin had also featured in the 2011 World Cup — caught behind in the second over with just five runs on the board. India had decimated England, Sri Lanka and South Africa in their previous outings, bowling them out for 129, 55 and 83 respectively and it appeared the Dutchmen were headed in a similar direction. Max O’Dowd (30) and Colin Ackermann (35)  however fought back against the Indian pacers who had been breathing fire for the most part in this tournament, stitching a 61-run stand for the second wicket. There wasn’t much swing on offer for the Indian quicks and the helpful batting conditions at the Chinnaswamy allowed O’Dowd and Ackermann, as Sybrand Engelbrecht (45) and Indian-born Nidamanuru (54) to not only settle at the crease but produce some delightful shots all over the park. Andhra Pradesh native Nidamanuru was particularly destructive towards the end of the Dutch innings, smashing a record six sixes during his 39-ball knock that helped Netherlands breach the 250-mark before folding up. India were also guilty of a couple of dropped chances and misfields on Sunday. They had been among the sharpest fielding sides in the tournament so far, but were relatively sloppy against the Dutch on Sunday. That included Siraj spilling a chance near long on after O’Dowd skied the ball in his direction off Kuldeep Yadav’s bowling. The ball not only burst through Siraj’s hands while the bowler tried to reverse-cup it, but also struck him on the throat that required a check-up from the medical team. Rohit was also fairly relaxed when it came to his bowling changes, deploying as many as nine bowlers including a number of part-timers. Among them was Kohli, who collected only his ninth international wicket and his first in ODIs in over a decade by getting Netherlands skipper Edwards caught-behind with a delivery that would have been called a wide down the leg side.

Later Rohit would bring Nidamanuru’s spirited resistance to an end by having the all-rounder caught at long on with his off-spin. Brief Scores: India 410/4 in 50 overs (Shreyas Iyer 128*, KL Rahul 102, Rohit Sharma 61; Bas de Leede 2/82) defeated Netherlands 250 in 47.5 overs (Teja Nidamanuru 54, Sybrand Engelbrecht 45; Mohammed Siraj 2/29, Jasprit Bumrah 2/33) by 160 runs