On this day, exactly four years ago, the Indian squad, led by Virat Kohli, was knocked out of the Cricket World Cup 2019 after succumbing to a New Zealand side, led by Kane Williamson, by a narrow 18-run margin at Old Trafford in Manchester owing to India’s top-order collapse. Although the match commenced on July 9, it concluded on July 10 as rain in Manchester prompted it to be rescheduled for the next day.
In the chase of 240, India was struggling at 5 for 3 in 3.1 overs. New Zealand star pacer Trent Boult was on fire after grabbing Virat Kohli’s wicket. Notably, on that day, for a while, it seemed as though Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant could pull off the miracle that India desperately needed, but it could not happen as the star batter was dismissed early, followed by the wicket of Dinesh Karthik.
However, Dhoni and Jadeja weren’t going to go down without a fight. The star all-rounder scored 77 runs off 59 deliveries, and he and Dhoni combined for 106 runs for the seventh wicket. After Jadeja got bowled by Trent Boult in the 48th over, India’s hopes were crushed. Notably, New Zealand had ideas that were opposed to what India might have believed would be the situation, as their pacers performed brilliantly while defending a low score, which made them enter the final against England.
Meanwhile, it appeared to be a repeat of India’s World Cup campaign from the 2015 World Cup. India fell to Australia eight years ago despite their impressive displays during their group stage and quarterfinals. Notably, India dominated the group stage tournament in 2019, but lost to the Kiwis during the semifinal.
In addition, before reaching the semi-final, Indian star batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had put together 1089 runs in the 2019 World Cup. However, both of them were dismissed for one run each in the overcast conditions of the semifinal. Notably, while chasing against New Zealand, Indian opener KL Rahul too fell for 1, like Rohit and Kohli, after putting together 360 runs in the tournament, including his maiden World Cup hundred.