Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and India praised by Kane Williamson in Cricket World Cup semifinal

Virat Kohli celebrates his record-breaking century against the Black Caps. Photo / Photosport

Black Caps captain Kane Williamson expressed pride in his team’s Cricket World Cup semifinal loss against India overnight and praised the host nation’s batting performance.

India smashed their way to a tournament knockout stage record of 397/4 from their 50 overs, dispatching the New Zealand bowling attack all around the park with Shubman Gill (80*), Virat Kohli (117) and Shreyas Iyer (105) leading the way. Kohli’s century saw him become the first man in the history of ODI cricket to score 50 centuries in the format.

Tim Southee was the best of the Black Caps with the ball, snaring three wickets for a whopping 100 runs from his 10 overs. Trent Boult took the side’s other wicket for 86 runs from his 10.

Post-match, Williamson acknowledged the resilience of his bowlers in the face of the daunting Indian batting lineup.

“As a collective, bowlers chipped in here and there, it was tough for them at times. A lot of fight, I’m really proud of that. We certainly want to come into each game and show that even if it doesn’t quite go our way like today and some of those other games. Ultimately it’s moving forward as a team and some really good steps in the right direction.”

Sadly for New Zealand, the elusive ODI World Cup win eludes them again after falling short in the final in 2015 and 2019, meanwhile, the win for India was their 10th in a row and they head into the World Cup final for the first time since 2014 as strong favourites.

In the second innings, Mohammed Shami devastated the Kiwis, finishing with figures of seven wickets for 57 runs – career-best figures for the imperious bowler. He took the wicket of opener Devon Conway with his very first ball of the innings. Daryl Mitchell (134) and Williamson (69) led the fight towards reaching the mammoth total but the Black Caps were bowled out for 327 from 48.5 overs.

Williamson found hope during the midway point of their innings but ultimately India was too strong.

“At the halfway stage with about 400 on the board was naturally going to be tough but credit to the guys – a proud effort to stay in the fight. At the halfway stage of that innings, kind of gave ourselves some hope there and a bit of a chance. A tough game, disappointing to go out in the knockout stages but super proud of the effort that’s gone into the seven weeks as a side.

“India are a top-class side with clearly some world-class batsmen and they came out and played beautifully well and didn’t give us a sniff really. I suppose if you bat first and put 400 on the board it’s a tick in the batting column and you try and do it in the second half. It was tough out there. The ball swung a lot initially so we had to work pretty hard. Credit to India, they thoroughly deserve where they are and they’ve played outstandingly well.”

Luke Kirkness is an Online Sports Editor for the NZ Herald. He previously covered consumer affairs for the Herald and was an assistant news director in the Bay of Plenty. He won Student Journalist of the Year in 2019.