India face New Zealand, Ashes comes early as England take on Australia
India had to wait till the last moment to know who they will face in the semi-finals but the wait has been worth it if you ask any Indian fan. Virat Kohli & Co. topped their group with a thorough win over Sri Lanka and later in the day, South Africa's win over Australia was the icing on the cake.
Following the Proteas' win over the Aussies, India finished on top of the pile after the group stages and will now take on fourth-placed New Zealand at Old Trafford, Manchester on Tuesday and not England at Birmingham -- the only team to have defeated them in this year's tournament so far and at the same venue.
India finished with 15 points from 9 games -- 7 wins, 1 loss and 1 NR while Australia, who stayed atop for quite a while, finished with 14 from the same number of matches. England finished third with 12 points while New Zealand, who sneaked through in the end after peaking early, pipped Pakistan thanks to NRR to finish fourth.
Therefore, India now will play the Black Caps on Tuesday in Manchester, which has been a happy hunting ground for the Men in Blue this World Cup while Australia will take on England at Edgbaston on Thursday.
However, the Indian team looked least bothered about their opponents in the semi-finals. Asked about their preferred opponents in the last four after the Lanka game, both captain Virat Kohli and vice-captain Rohit Sharma said they wanted to focus on themselves and not the opposition.
"The opposition has never mattered. We don't focus on what the opposition brings to the table. If we don't play well anyone can beat us and if we play well we can beat anyone. The focus has to be within and we are confident of our skill sets. We just want to go out there in the semifinal and express our skills and strengths as a team."
"So regardless of who we will play, we want to play good cricket and get the result our way," Kohli said.
And, Rohit was all about living in the moment.
"We have had a great victory today and we want to celebrate that rather than thinking about what is going on there. Whatever opposition comes our way we will put up a show," Rohit said while receiving his Man-of-the-Match award against Sri Lanka.
New Zealand are the only team India haven't played in this World Cup as their game was washed out.
