Men in Blue exhibited another solid batting performance and a disciplined bowling attack to beat the Netherlands by 160 runs on Sunday, finishing the league stage with an unbeaten run. Chasing a mammoth 411, the Dutch batters gave a good fight but failed to score runs at a fine striking rate and eventually lost the game. To everyone’s surprise, Virat Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma also bowled and both bagged a wicket.

Batting first, Rohit and Shubman Gill looked in great touch and gave India a solid start by adding 100 runs in 11.4 overs. Teja Nidamanuru took a brilliant catch on the boundary rope to send off Gill who batted well for his 51. Moments later, Bas de Leede got the important wicket of Rohit (61). Kohli and Shreyas Iyer then added 71 runs for the third wicket. But Roelof van der Merwe bowled an excellent delivery to clean up Kohli (51).

However, Iyer constructed his innings beautifully and went on to hit his first ODI World Cup century in 84 balls. KL Rahul also batted brilliantly and scored runs at an excellent strike rate. Both the batters rained fours and sixes to increase the scoring rate. Rahul smashed consecutive sixes to bring his century, becoming the fastest Indian (62 Balls) to hit a ton in World Cup history. Iyer’s unbeaten 128 and Rahul’s 102 guided India to a massive 410/4 in 50 overs. Indian batters scripted history as all the top five batters scored half-centuries.

In reply, Mohammed Siraj gave India an early breakthrough by dismissing Wesley Barresi (4). Max O’Dowd (30) and Colin Ackermann batted well to add 61 runs for the second wicket. Kuldeep Yadav gave India’s much-needed wicket by trapping Ackermann (35) LBW. Sybrand Engelbrecht and Nidamanuru chipped in 45 and 54 respectively to hold the Netherland’s innings. But Indian bowlers kept taking wickets at regular intervals and eventually bowled out the Dutch for 250.

And now, it’s time for the knockout matches. India will take on New Zealand in the first semi-final on November 15, Wednesday at the Wankhede.