Right then, we are done with the Super 12 stage and are ready with the line-up for the semifinals. Have to say, this has been quite an enticing World Cup so far with cut-throat competition between all teams. Now we can expect the action to get more intense and thrilling as we move into the knockout stage. The first semi-final will be in Sydney where New Zealand will go up against Pakistan on Wednesday, 9th of November. It will start at 1.30 pm IST (8 am GMT). The second semi-final would be played at the Adelaide Oval where India will lock horns against England on Thursday, the 10th of November at 1.30 pm IST (8 am GMT). So, two blockbuster games await us. Do join us for the build-up of those games nice and early. Till then, it’s goodbye and cheers!

Rohit Sharma, the skipper of India says that it was a good overall performance and something they were looking for. Mentions that they have qualified but they wanted to play the way that they did and they got a lot from the game. Credits Suryakumar Yadav for what he is doing as it is remarkable and he is taking the pressure away from the other batters which is quite important. Adds that he allows others to take time and the confidence he shows brings ease to the dug out. Goes on to say that they expect this from him and he has grown from strength to strength. Claims that the key for them is to adjust to the conditions and says that they played recently at the venue so they know what to do. Admits that England is a strong team and it’s a semi final where two teams will be going at each other so they should not forget what got them there. Adds that it is a high pressure game but they take a lot of pride in qualifying and understands that if they play well, they have one more good game after that. Ends by saying that the crowd has been brilliant and have come to watch wherever they have gone, so he expects nothing less in the semi-final.

Craig Ervine, the skipper of Zimbabwe says they could have changed a couple of plans. Mentions that the initial plan was to bowl wide yorkers but they could have taken some pace off the ball. Credits Suryakumar Yadav for taking the game away from them. Claims that leading up to the tournament they had a  positive approach with the bat but in the last two games they have gone into a shell and lost that positively. Adds that they need to counter that by moving around a bit and being proactive. Admits that the last few results didn’t go as planned but they did really good work to get into Super 12. Ends by saying that in the last few games their ground fielding has been poor but they fought hard during this World Cup.

Suryakumar Yadav  is the Player of the Match and he says that the plan with Hardik was clear and they wanted to take a positive approach. Adds that when they started connecting their shots and getting boundaries,they decided to continue. Mentions that the atmosphere in the team is really nice and the build-up to the tournament was good. Claims that his plan has always been clear and he attempts to see what the team needs in any particular situation. Admits that it feels really good to be in good form but it is important to start from zero. Ends by saying that they have qualified for the knockouts and he wants to see how it goes but he is thankful for the support.

Time for the Presentation.

India, on the other hand, would be pretty happy with the clinical nature of this win. Suryakumar Yadav was absolutely fantastic at the death which took India to an above-par score and after that, the way Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh swung the ball was quite commendable. India managed to take three wickets in the Powerplay and all Indian seamers made sure that Zimbabwe were never given an inch before the spinners came into the attack. Indian spinners, Ashwin and Axar Patel struggled initially but then came back strongly to pick four wickets between them. Overall, a convincing performance by India, and it would be interesting to see how they go about their business in the semi-final now.

In the first half of the game, India posted a huge total courtesy of some quality batting by KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav. The target of 187 was always going to be tough for Zimbabwe and the 79 runs they gave away at the death with the ball, took the momentum away from them. Sean Willians took two wickets with the ball but with the bat, he could not score much. The top 3 batters before him also failed to make a mark and it was only the partnership of 60 runs between Raza and Burl that gave the Zimbabwean fans something to cheer about. However, they were never in this chase, and once that partnership was broken, Zimbabwe ended up folding quite quickly on 115. Zimbabwe have played some good cricket in this tournament though and they would be looking to build up from here and come up with better performance in the future.

India have registered a dominating win here at the ‘G’ and have finished at the top of the table in Group 2. They will now go to Adelaide to face off against England in the semi-final and this is exactly the kind of morale-boosting win a team needs before going into a knockout game. Zimbabwe, on the other hand, have played some brilliant cricket in patches but they need to be better with their execution with the bat to challenge big teams consistently.

Blessing Muzarabani is the last man in.

Tendai Chatara is the next man in.