ODI World Cup 2023: India vs New Zealand 1st Semi-Final Weather Report, Pitch Report and Match Preview

Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium will host a repeat of the 2019 World Cup semi-final when India and New Zealand clash from 2 pm on Wednesday. However, the outcome of the high-octane encounter could change this time around as the Men in Blue come as a strong unit on the back of 9 league wins in a row. The last time the two met, Kane Williamson and Co. defeated India by 18 runs.

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India were the first team to qualify for the semi-finals, thanks to their unbeaten run so far. New Zealand, on the other hand, were the last team to secure a knockout spot after an inconsistent run. Notably, when both teams faced off in the group stage, Rohit Sharma's side emerged victorious. Virat Kohli's 95 runs and Mohammed Shami's five-wicket haul helped India win by 4 wickets. 

Pitch Report

The Wankhede Stadium pitch is known to offer some assistance for pacers with the new ball, but is mostly batting-friendly. It was the venue where South Africa posted a mammoth total of 382/5 before their pacers used the under-light conditions to bowl out Bangladesh for 233. Notably, India posted 357 before their pacers tore through the Sri Lankan batting unit to bundle them out for 55 inside 20 overs. The average first innings score in the 27 ODIs the venue has hosted is 261. Two of the last five matches at the venue have ended in favour of the team chasing and the team batting first has won three times when setting a target above 350. 

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Weather Report 

The weather prediction for Mumbai on Wednesday looks promising. There is no threat of rain during the game time and hopefully, we will get a 50-over match. According to AccuWeather, the temperature will range around with a minimum of 26 degrees Celsius and a maximum temperature of 34 degrees Celsius during the match hours. With humidity predicted to be around 30 percent, conditions are expected to be much better than the last few World Cup 2023 matches in this venue.

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If rain plays spoilsport on Wednesday, the Cricket Governing Body has announced a Reserve Day. If Reserve Day is also washed out, India will advance to the finals due to their high points tally after the league stage.

India vs New Zealand 1st semi-final Probable Playing XIs: 

India Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj 

New Zealand Probable XI: Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson (c), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Tom Latham (wk), Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson