Will history repeat itself when India take on New Zealand in 2019 World Cup semi-final?
India will take on New Zealand in the first semi-final of the 2019 World Cup on Tuesday at Old Trafford in Manchester after India won their match against Sri Lanka by 7 wickets and Australia lost theirs to South Africa by 10 runs.
Courtesy of the results, India finished the group stages on top while Australia climbed down to No.2. 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.
And, there is a fun fact in store for all its diggers. Pakistan's World Cup campaign had eerie similarities with their 1992 World Cup before their luck ran out. India also have one and it deals with their semi-final opponents New Zealand.
Virat Kohli picked up 2 wickets against New Zealand in the semi-finals that day
During the U-19 World Cup semi-final at Kuala Lumpur, back in 2008, these two teams came face to face against each other and India emerged victorious by 3 wickets. And, both the teams much like now, were led by Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson respectively.
Not only that, but India also had Ravindra Jadeja in their ranks while the Black Caps had Trent Boult and Tim Southee in their team and both played the game as well. Incidentally, Kohli was the Man-of-the-Match in the game for scoring 43 runs and picking up 2 wickets with Williamson being one of them.
India will go into the competition as the fancied side to go forward after New Zealand's campaign fell apart despite a bright start.
The two sides have not played each other at this World Cup as their game at Trent Bridge on June 13 was abandoned without a ball bowled.
