Cricket World Cup: India and New Zealand collide in battle of unbeaten sides in Dharamshala

India and New Zealand meet on Sunday in a battle of the two remaining undefeated sides at the 2023 Cricket World Cup – but which ‘0’ will go as they face-off in Dharamshala, live on Sky Sports.

Who have India beaten?

India defeated Australia in their first game, recovering from 2-3 inside two overs – Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer out for ducks – to reach their target of 200 with 52 balls to spare as KL Rahul struck an unbeaten 97 and Virat Kohli contributed 85.

Kohli looked nailed on for a century in that game until he slapped Josh Hazlewood to the fielder at midwicket but finally notched his first ton of the tournament, and the 48th of his one-day international career, three games later in the seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh at a packed-out Pune on Thursday.

Kohli and Rahul manufactured the former’s hundred, which came from 97 balls with the match-winning six and now leaves him just one century shy of Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 in the format.

The other man to hit a hundred for India in this competition is Rohit Sharma, who struck a record seventh World Cup ton – eclipsing Tendulkar’s tally of six – with his 131 from 83 balls versus Afghanistan.

Rohit went on to make 86 against Pakistan in the following game as India chased down 192 with 117 balls to spare to take their perfect record against their great rivals in the 50-over World Cup to 8-0 – Pakistan punished after crumbling from 155-2 to 191 all out during a quite staggering collapse of 8-36 in Ahmedabad.

What about New Zealand?

The Blacks Caps battered defending champions England by nine wickets in the opening game of the tournament, breezing past their opponents’ total of 282-9 with 82 balls in reserve after Rachin Ravindra (123no) and Devon Conway (152no) struck unbeaten tons.

New Zealand – beaten finalists in the last two 50-over World Cup finals – then made no mistakes against three of the perceived weaker teams in the competition, easing past Netherlands, Bangladesh and then an Afghanistan side that shocked England.

Seven players have notched at least one fifty, while the bowling has been led by 11-wicket left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner and nine-wicket seamer Matt Henry.

No one has more scalps in the tournament than Santner, whose returns include 5-59 against Netherlands, 3-39 versus Afghanistan and 2-37 against England. The 31-year-old does not have much mystery about him but he is accurate, reliable and economical.

India and New Zealand’s top performers

INDIA

Leading run-scorer: Virat Kohli (259 runs @ 129.50 – 1 x hundred, 2 x fifty)
Highest score: Rohit Sharma (131 off 84 balls, against Afghanistan)
Leading wicket-taker: Jasprit Bumrah (10 wickets @ 14.40)
Best bowling figures: Jasprit Bumrah (4-39 against Afghanistan)

NEW ZEALAND

Leading run-scorer: Devon Conway (238 runs @ 83.00 – 1 x hundred)
Highest score: Devon Conway (152 not out off 121 balls, against England)
Leading wicket-taker: Mitchell Santner (11 wickets @ 15.09)
Best bowling figures: Mitchell Santner (5-59 against Netherlands)

What is the team news?

India have been dealt a big blow with seam-bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya to miss the game with an ankle injury sustained attempting to field off his own bowling early on against Bangladesh.

Hardik is crucial to balancing the India side as the only real bowling option capable of batting in the top six.

If the hosts opt to play a batter instead in either Ishan Kishan or Suryakumar Yadav they will have only five frontline bowling options. If they opt to bring in seamer Mohammed Shami or spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, the tail will lengthen.

New Zealand, meanwhile, remain without captain Kane Williamson.

The 33-year-old missed the first two games of the tournament as he continued to recover from an ACL tear and then fractured his left thumb on comeback against Bangladesh when a throw at the stumps from a fielder hit his hand, forcing him to retire hurt on 78.

The Black Caps are hopeful that Williamson will be able to return in November but until then Conway will open alongside Will Young with Ravindra taking Williamson’s usual spot at No 3.

‘India’s balance not the same without Hardik’

India head coach Rahul Dravid:

“He [Hardik] is an important all-rounder; he helps us balance our squad out really well but he is going to be missing this game, so we will have to work around that.

“We’ve got to work with the 14 that we’ve got… We will have to see what works best for these conditions and these wickets. It probably might not be the kind of balance that we used in the first four games.

“We certainly can go with the three fast bowlers or the three spinners. We could play Ash [Ashwin], who has obviously been sitting out and who has great quality as well, and move [Ravi] Jadeja up.

“So there are two or three combinations we could consider till Hardik gets back.”

‘Hopefully the fireworks are for New Zealand’

New Zealand seamer Trent Boult:

“India are a powerful team, they cover all bases. They’ve been playing some good cricket but it’s been a team that we’ve enjoyed playing. Nothing changes from our point of view really. It’s about going out there and being positive.

“These guys are very familiar with the conditions but they feel pressure just as much as any other batsman or any other bowler.

“I’m sure it will be a cracker: India in India: it doesn’t get much bigger than that. Our games so far have been relatively quiet crowd but we understand the intensity’s going to go up a little bit here.

“There might be a firework or two – but hopefully they’re for us. We’re looking forward to going out there, showcasing what we can do and just picking up where we’ve left off.”