The situation has been changed miraculously last night when SA beat Australia by 10 runs that made it easy for India. Now India will take on NZ in first Semifinal and Australia will face England in the other. I think India should not take NZ lightly and should go all out to make it to the final. 

Yes though New Zealand might be an easy team compared to England and Australia,  India should not take them lightly.  Each team will give their best to reach the finals of World Cup.  And going lightly might take their chance away from being in final.  It's a knockout match. 

England is back to its form after few bad games. 

India is a strong team with good batting and bowling line and they are fit on field. Good that KL Rahul is back to his form in the last match against Sri Lanka.  Such boost was needed before the crucial match.  He seemed to be struggling as an opener and Dhawan was missed. 

suni51 wrote:

The situation has been changed miraculously last night when SA beat Australia by 10 runs that made it easy for India. Now India will take on NZ in first Semifinal and Australia will face England in the other. I think India should not take NZ lightly and should go all out to make it to the final. 

Yes absolutely. Didn't expect south Africa will beat Australia. Going by the form of the Proteas, Australia were the clear favorites. However, it's been proved yet again that something brings out the best from the South Africans when they face Australia. In the past it has happened on innumerable occasions. Yesterday right from the beginning SA showed positive intent. Their captain lead from the front with a sparkling century. The bowlers bowled well within themselves and the fielding was exceptional at times. Especially the catch by Morris to get rid off the dangerous Warner was so well timed and it eventually proved to be the turning point of the match.

The bond between the two nations is a solid one and also pretty old from Mahatma Gandhi to Nelson Mandela. On a lighter note, South Africa displayed that friendship yet again and this time in the field of cricket !!!  

@ SB-  Very apt comment, I admire your knowledge of cricket and hope you will post your suggestion and the players that will shine in the match between India and NZ.

suni51 wrote:

@ SB-  Very apt comment, I admire your knowledge of cricket and hope you will post your suggestion and the players that will shine in the match between India and NZ.

Thank you so much for your encouragement ! It's been an absolute pleasure exchanging ideas / opinions here at Boddunan with everyone.

Talking about cricket, I just hope Rohit Sharma continues his good form in the big match. I have a feeling / intuition that Virat Kohli, if he gets the opportunity to play decent amount of overs, will go on to score a big one today. He is a big match player and is expected to rise to the occasion.

New Zealand can be a dangerous side on their day. Williamson is in excellent form. Jimmy Neesham too has a very good temperament when it comes to big matches and pressure situations. And India will have to bat a little carefully initially as the threat of Trent Boult will always be there.

New Zealand have won the toss and chose to bat first. Hopefully India can restrict them well. India has gone with a batting heavy line up with jadeja, bhuvi in the playing XI which is very good I think.

But no extra bowler for cushion, that's the flipside.

Indeed, Sourav has a deep understanding of the game and players and the matches between teams. Love to read his insightful comments.

Very unfortunate as India lose their review first ball, they do not have any reviews left.

Seeing the amount of swing, it is good that India is bowling first. With Boult in their attack, we would have been in a terrifying situation. New Zealand lost their first wicket at 3.3 overs. 1/1 Score.

New Zealand showed lack of positive intent and India also bowled well in these 46.1 overs played so far.

It's really becoming very frustrating to come across a rain delay yet again in this tournament. However, there's a reserve day for the semis.

Rain has been a game spoiler.  India showed terrific bowling and Kiwis scored as low as 27 in first ten overs.  Even the league match between the two countries could not happen due to rain.  But semis has a reserved day.  If the game doesn't happen at all then India should comfortably go to finals looking at their good run rate.