Similarities Between Kohli-Willamson: Team India entered into the semifinal convincingly by winning 7 out of their 9 games, losing just the solitary game to hosts England, while the game against New Zealand was washed out. After Australia’s defeat at the hands of South Africa, India moved to the top of the table, which means India will now take on New Zealand in the semi-final at Old Trafford ground in Manchester, where they defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in the league game.
India will play against the Kiwis on Tuesday, but do you know Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson played each other in a WC semifinal before.
In 2008, team India and New Zealand played against each other in the U19 Cricket World Cup. Indian team was led by Virat Kohli, while Williamson was the captain of New Zealand ship. 11 years on, both have led the senior sides of their respective nations to a World Cup semi-final and will be up against each other.
What was the Result then?
The game was decided by D/L method and India defeated New Zealand by three wickets. Virat Kohli was Man of the Match and he picked the wicket of Kane Williamson. Kohli got the Kiwi captain on 37, and picked 2 wickets for 27. He also scored 43 runs off 53 balls to help India chase the New Zealand total in tough conditions. Trent Boult, Tim Southee, and Ravindra Jadeja were also a part of this U19 clash.
The pictures of these players are floating around social media. India went on to the win this tournament by beating South Africa in final.
2019 World Cup
Similarities Between Kohli-Willamson: India-New Zealand game was abandoned due to the rain in the league phase and we can now expect a cracking contest in Manchester. Rain is the common friend of India-New Zealand games as they played rain effected game in the U19 World Cup as well.
Indian fans would be hoping for a repeat of the 2008 result when New Zealand and India will meet for the first time in the knock-out stage of a World Cup.
While India have been dominant, New Zealand have been on a downward trajectory, where they lost their last three games and only made it to the semi-final on Net Run Rate
India would go into the game as favourites, but it would be foolish to right off the Kiwis given the strength of their bowling unit.
