Kolkata: India will face Australia in the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 after the latter beat South Africa by three wickets in the second semifinal at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday.
India and Australia had last clashed in the final of a World Cup back in 2003. Australia won that game by 125 runs and lifted the World Cup trophy for the third time. It also went on to win the following edition in 2007.
India will be chasing its third World Cup title at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday. It last won the title in 2011 after beating Sri Lanka in the final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. It won its first World Cup title in 1983 under the captaincy of Kapil Dev.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli scored his 50th ODI ton during the ICC World Cup semi-final match between India and New Zealand on November 15.
Kohli has broken Sachin Tendulkar’s record to become first man to score 50 ODI centuries. Kohli had tied with Tendulkar at the Eden Gardens against South Africa, on his 35th birthday. At Wankhede, in a testing semi-final game, he went past him
As he noticed Sachin Tendulkar applauding from the enclosure, he chose to bow once again out of sheer reverence.
Kohli’s century — along with Shreyas Iyer’s ton and a stellar seven-wicket haul by Mohammed Shami — was critical to brushing aside India’s World Cup semi-final hoodoo and taking the team to the final in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
