Watch: Rohit Sharma danced down the track to hit Trent Boult for a six over long off in the third over of India’s innings in the first semi-final of the 2023 World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai today (November 15).
India won the decisive toss against New Zealand in the first semi-final and decided to bat first. Both teams entered the game unchanged. Rohit stuck to his attacking approach throughout the World Cup and wasted no time getting started.
The first ball of the game, bowled by Trent Boult, was flicked over midwicket by Rohit. The first boundary came a few balls later, a flick across midwicket followed by another cover drive. At the end of the first half, India were 10-0 up.
Shubman Gill then hit a few boundaries off Tim Southee in the second over to further propel the momentum forward before Rohit registered India’s first maximum score in the third over.
Not feeling any real movement either in the air or off the water, Boult switched to rounding the wicket on the third ball of the over. Rohit took the opportunity to increase the pressure as he moved down the track and hit a full ball on the off-stump over long-off for six ounces.
This set him up and he hit three more sixes at the end of the sixth over as India ran away with 58-0. This was in stark contrast to India’s powerplay in the 2019 semi-final against New Zealand again. In that match, he struggled to reach 24-4 after his first 10 overs and ended up losing in a hard-fought match.
Watch Rohit Sharma launches Trent Boult for six
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