WATCH: Cricket World Cup 2019 – India v New Zealand highlights

Dave Tickner
Virat Kohli out Trent Boult India New Zealand World Cup PA

1455 BST: India 221 (49.3 overs) – NEW ZEALAND WIN BY 18 RUNS
Back-to-back World Cup finals for New Zealand. And it might be Australia again – we go through all this again tomorrow at Edgbaston – as the Black Caps bid to go one better than four years ago. Yesterday was a bit rubbish. Today was not. Extraordinary day’s cricket, and spare a thought for Jadeja who was probably the day’s standout performer but ends on the losing side.

WICKET! Yuzvendra Chahal c Latham b Neesham 5 (4b, 1×4, SR: 125.00)
All over! New Zealand are through to the final! Chahal gets four from the first ball of Neesham’s closing over but edges the next two through to Latham. The first doesn’t carry, the second does. New Zealand win an absolute cracker.

WICKET! Bhuvneshwar Kumar b Ferguson 0 (1b)
BOWLED HIM! Ferguson’s final ball knocks back Kumar’s off stump. Six balls remaining – Neesham will bowl them you assume – and India will need 23 from them.

WICKET! MS Dhoni run out (Guptill) 50 (72b, 1×4, 1×6, SR: 69.44)
UIDHSFIUAEDHOU:ADOI:EHD: CRICKET WHAT EVEN ARE YOU? Dhoni finally wakes up tot he situation and splats Ferguson for six over point. But is then run out by an absolute Jadeja of a direct hit from Guptill as Dhoni desperately tries to get back for a second to keep the strike,

1443 BST: India 209/7 (48 overs)
Dhoni turns down a second run from the final ball of the over. India need 31 from the last two overs. Dhoni has been watching Jadeja for the last hour. He’s got to do it now.

WICKET! Ravindra Jadeja c Williamson b Boult 77 (59b, 4×4, 4×6, SR: 130.50)
Take a bow. Take a bloody bow. One of the all-time great ODI innings, no question. He has single-handedly taken India to the point where a sensational victory is still possible. But it will be someone else who has to finish it as Boult strikes in his final over, Jadeja skying the ball to Williamson at mid-off.

1437 BST: India 203/6 (47 overs)
Brilliant, brilliant over from Matt Henry. Five singles from his final over. The Neesham Over starting to look absolutely key to this whole thing. India need 37 from 18.

1431 BST: India 198/6 (46 overs)
The partnership goes past 100. Jadeja has 69 of them. Make that 73 as a genuine edge runs away for four as Old Trafford is engulfed by roars from the stands once more. Boult now only has one over left having given up 10 in this one. India need 42 from 24. Boult, Henry and Ferguson all have one over left. Neesham still has to bowl one more. Nobody else has a strike-rate above 60 for India today; Jadeja’s strike-rate is 137. This is unreal stuff.

1426 BST: India 188/6 (45 overs)
This is the best of the lot from Jadeja, sending Ferguson slower ball back with interest over long-off for six. Sensational batting. Picked the slower ball, waited for the slower ball, dispatched the slower ball. One of the great World Cup innings, this, whatever the result. Equation down to 52 from 30. This is incredible.

1421 BST: India 178/6 (44 overs)
An over that makes you wonder if this is Jadeja’s day. Two huge slices of luck for the left-hander – you can’t begrudge him it after the way he’s played – as a miscued hook off a Neesham slwoer ball and another mishit shot down the ground both land just short of fielders. India need 62 from 36 and it is anyone’s game now. Dhoni may well be the greatest finisher of all time, but right here right now Jadeja holds the key.

1417 BST: India 171/6 (43 overs)
An over that goes New Zeaand’s way. First for a while. Just three singles from Ferguson’s over takes the equation to 69 from 42.

1413 BST: India 168/6 (42 overs)
Nine from the over again. The bulk of them from Jadeja again. A Neesham over ticked off, though.

1411 BST: Ravi Jadeja 51* (39b, 3×4, 3×6, SR: 130.76)
There is the swordsman celebration for a quite brilliant half-century. Never mind Dhoni, Jadeja is the wicket New Zealand need here. Jadeja is winning this on his own right now. Absolutely hammers Neesham through midwicket for four and then scampers another two to bring up the landmark.

1405 BST: India 159/6 (41 overs)
It’s the nine needed again from Santner’s final over, thanks mainly to a third six from Jadeja picked up miles over midwicket. India need 81 from 54 and Jadeja – who bowled superbly yesterday and fielded like a man possessed this morning – is heading for national hero status.

1401 BST: India 150/6 (40 overs)
Ferguson back with Williamson sensing that a wicket is needed. Holding back those all-rounder overs. First ball is hooked past a diving Latham down to the fine-leg boundary by Jadeja. Nine more from this over – bang on the required rate – and Jadeja is having quite the day. Dhoni an absolute passenger here, this is the Jadeja Show as huge roars greet him scampering back for two to complete the over and bring up India’s 150.

1357 BST: India 141/6 (39 overs)
It’s all Jadeja for India right now. Dances down the track and hits Santner high and handsome over long-on for his second six. While Dhoni flirts with a strike-rate of 50, Jadeja is striking at better than a run a ball. India’s target drops to double-figures and the required rate just about remains in single-figures.

1353 BST: India 131/6 (38 overs)
Glorious pull shot over midwicket for a one-bounce from from Jadeja to start Henry’s ninth over, but just one more run from the remaining five balls. Henry, you imagine, will bowl out in the last over from this end. New Zealand need to find three overs from De Grandhomme and Neesham. Assuming India aren’t bowled out, of course.

1348 BST: India 126/6 (37 overs)
Santner ends another fine over with one that really spins to beat Dhoni’s outside edge. Drift and turn there, and Santner now has the ludicrous figures of 2/15 from eight.

1345 BST: India 123/6 (36 overs)
Good comeback over from Henry. Four from it including a marginal wide from a bouncer that keeps Dhoni honest.

1341 BST: India 119/6 (35 overs)
Santner back for his seventh over. It’s his costliest, with a whopping five from it. He’s bowled well, but India haven’t got it right against him.

1336 BST: India 114/6 (34 overs)
The crowd have been lifted by that Jadeja six, and the volume goes up again as Dhoni punches a low full-toss from Boult back past the bowler for four. The outfield is still so fast. But at least there are signs of urgency from Dhoni now, an acknowledgement that his inherent Dhoniness is not in itself enough to magically chase down 130 runs in 16 overs.

1332 BST: India 106/6 (33 overs)
Finally, a big shot. And it comes from Jadeja rather than Dhoni, running down the track to Neesham and launching him miles over long-on. Someone had to. Nine from the over, and the inevitable pertinent Jofra tweet.

1329 BST: India 97/6 (32 overs)
Dhoni has 12 from 29 balls. I know he’s a legend. I know he’s an astonishing, icy-veined timer of a run-chase. But this is not good.

WICKET! Hardik Pandya c Williamson b Santner 32 (62b, 2×4, SR: 51.61)
The pressure told on Pant and now it’s told on Pandya. Again it’s the slog-sweep, and again Santner is the bowler to benefit. Pandya makes nothing like as good a connection as Pant did, spiralling a top edge high towards midwicket where Williamson backpedals and takes a smart catch above his head.

1314 BST: India 92/5 (30 overs)
Astonishing 10-over phase comes to an end here. Not as dramatic as the first 10 overs, but India have scored just 22 runs since the end of the 20th over. Signs of life from Dhoni in this over, though, as he gets a couple of drives away off Neesham for a scampered two and then a three.

1311 BST: India 85/5 (29 overs)
Easy to be critical of this latest Dhoni go-slow, but what if he’s just shrewdly decided the target is out of reach and is trying to protect India’s NRR?

1308 BST: India 83/5 (28 overs)
This is brilliant bowling from New Zealand. The noose is tightening for India. Two good short balls in the over, the first helped down to long-leg by Dhoni for a single while the second has Pandya hopping around the crease to get out of the way. Required rate goes above seven, actual rate below three.

1304 BST: India 82/5 (27 overs)
Don’t need to worry about it just yet, and Pant’s shot was a huge error of judgement, but at some point India need to keep an eye on this required rate. It’s now just 12 runs in the last seven overs, and the required rate is nudging seven.

1301 BST: India 80/5 (26 overs)
Ten runs and a wicket in the last six overs.

1258 BST: India 77/5 (25 overs)
Finally a run off Santner, from the last ball of his third over. There was a leg-bye in there as well. Steady on, India.

1255 BST: India 75/5 (24 overs)
Four runs off Neesham’s over. There is batting to come – not least the irrepressible Jadeja – but India surely need a partnership from these two.

1250 BST: India 71/5 (23 overs)
Here, at last, is Dhoni. Santner, meanwhile, has 1/0 from two overs.

WICKET! Rishabh Pant c de Grandhomme b Santner 32 (56b, 4×4, SR: 58.18)
Pressure, pure and simple. Just one single in the 16 balls before this wicket prompts a big slog-sweep from Pant that heads unerringly down de Grandhomme’s massive throat at deep midwicket.

Rishabh Pant India New Zealand World Cup PA

1245 BST: India 71/4 (22 overs)
Neesham backs Santner up with another tidy over, and the required rate ticks over a run a ball for the first time.

1241 BST: India 70/4 (21 overs)
Spin for the first time in the innings as Santner kicks off his spell with a maiden. Not much turn for him, but unerringly accurate and Pandya not taking any chances.

1237 BST: India 70/4 (20 overs)
Neesham into the attack. A wide from what should have been the final ball of the over proves particularly costly as Pant carves the extra delivery for four to third-man. Noise levels from the Indian fans on the rise. There’s a decent crowd in today as well, considering the last-minute changes of plans it involved. Whatever happens now, we have a match with 20 overs of India’s innings completed. They are currently 40 behind DLS despite this recovery. Should stress there is no prospect of rain at the moment, that DLS score just a guide.

1232 BST: India 62/4 (19 overs)
Ferguson bowling a serious spell here. Should have had a wicket first ball, could so easily have had Pandya as well from that miscued pull. But this pair are dragging India back into the game.

1227 BST: India 60/4 (18 overs)
Good from Pandya here, taking three successive twos off de Grandhomme without any risk. Nine runs in total from the over with minimal fuss. This is a long way from being over.

1222 BST: India 51/4 (17 overs)
The pace of Ferguson unsettles Pandya, who spoons an attempted hook off the splice towards and ultimately just over the man at midwicket. Huge stroke of good fortune for Pandya, who admonishes himself as he trots through for a single.

1217 BST: India 47/4 (16 overs)
De Grandhomme into the attack, and keeps the pressure on with a tidy over. Helped along the way by a superb diving stop from Guptill at backward point to save three runs from a fierce Pant cut.

1211 BST: India 43/4 (15 overs)
Another fast and probing over from Lockie Ferguson and his movie-star moustache. Time for a drink, which I think we all need. A drink and some Pepe’s chicken.

1207 BST: India 42/4 (14 overs)
If this pair get India anywhere close it’s going to be absolutely tremendous fun. Pandya gets his second boundary in glorious style, standing tall and punching the previously unhittable Henry through cover to the fence.

1203 BST: India 37/4 (13 overs)
Drop! Did Neesham just drop the World Cup? It’s a mirror image of that famous Herschelle mistake 20 years ago, except Neesham never has the ball in his hands to drop. Pant flicked the very first ball from Lockie Ferguson to midwicket where Neesham, having just taken the catch of the tournament (and there’s stiff competition that he has blown away there) he has shelled a far simpler chance as the ball bursts through his hands.

1159 BST: India 35/4 (12 overs)
It’s not the big story right now – could well be in a couple of hours – but India have absolutely got one in Pant. He looks like he’s just having a net rather than trying to rescue his country from World Cup oblivion. Hooks Henry down to long-leg for four like it’s nothing.

1155 BST: India 30/4 (11 overs)
A bad over from Boult, but I think we’ll allow him that one. There’s a wide down the legside and then another ball starting too straight to Pandya that allows him to get a glance away for four. Boult absolutely furious because of course he is.

1149 BST: India 24/4 (10 overs)
Still no Dhoni. It’s Hardik Pandya at six for India…

WICKET! Dinesh Karthik c Neesham b Henry 6 (24b, 1×4, SR: 24.00)
Oh that’s outrageous. Karthik drives uppishly but seemingly safely to point, but Jimmy Neesham flings himself to his left and takes the most improbable of one-handed catches millimetres off the turf. You want to know how good that catch was? Nicholas knowingly went with “Given the moment, one of the great catches” and he was absolutely right to do so.

1144 BST: India 19/3 (9 overs)
I know what you’re thinking. I know what the big question you’re all asking in this situation. Is there a Jofra tweet? Of course there’s a Jofra tweet.

New Zealand, meanwhile, so thoroughly (and correctly) on the attack that there is no third-man because everyone is in the slips. Test match field allows Karthik to get a Test match boundary, steered deliberately along the ground down to that vacant area. Another Proper Cricket Shot follows, punching the ball dead straight back past Boult for two. Good batting, because Boult is bowling like a dream here.

1139 BST: India 13/3 (8 overs)
Pant playing a different game to everyone else here. Picks up two for a drive behind point and looks completely at ease under this mountainous pressure. He’s going to be some player. Already is in many ways.

1135 BST: India 10/3 (7 overs)
Awesome over from Boult again. Another maiden, ending with a yorker that arcs in and under Karthik’s bat but just missing the off stump.

1132 BST: India 10/3 (6 overs)
New Zealand’s start yesterday looking quite good now. Pant, though, lands the first punch for the batsmen in this innings as he drives Henry through point to the fence. He’s actually looked impressively calm here given the nonsense going off around him.

1128 BST: India 6/3 (5 overs)
Boult arcs one into Karthik’s pads as he looks to leave the ball. An absolute roar of an lbw appeal but it’s not coming back quite enough. Illingworth shakes his head and Williamson wisely keeps his by opting against the review.

1124 BST: India 5/3 (4 overs)
Over to the wicketkeepers. Pant and Karthik now with Dhoni to come. Keeping the faith. Or something. I don’t know. I’m a bit frazzled.

WICKET! KL Rahul c Latham b Henry 1 (7b, SR: 14.28)
Good grief what are we watching here? India’s top three all back in the hutch as Rahul is caught in two minds between leaving and playing. Does neither and just sort of holds the bat out there, allowing the ball to catch the edge and Latham to catch the ball.

1118 BST: India 5/2 (3 overs)
Wicket-maiden for Boult. Cricket is amazing.

WICKET! Virat Kohli lbw b Boult 1 (6b, SR: 16.67)
Now then. Now. Then. What is happening here? India’s two main men gone with just five runs on the board. Kohli gets too far across to a Boult in-dipper and ends up playing around his pad. Given out on the field by Richard Illingworth which proves crucial as the Hawk-Eye review comes up umpire’s call and India’s captain has to go.

1111 BST: India 5/1 (2 overs)
Virat Kohli in against the new ball. Exactly what New Zealand had to do. He’s off the mark second ball with a controlled edge to third-man.

WICKET! Rohit Sharma c Latham b Henry 1 (4b, SR: 25.00)
Huuuuuggee! Henry gets the big wicket in his first over. Rohit can only add a single run to his previous tournament tally of 647 before getting a beauty that he pushes tentatively half-forward to and edges through to Latham. Moved in a touch through the air before a hint of movement away off the pitch. The old Had To Be In Good Form To Nick It special. Delivered from the James Anderson End. Apt.

1106 BST: India 2/1 (1 over)
Single apiece for India’s openers to start the chase. Tidy start from Boult, though.

1102 BST: Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul out for the run-chase.

1055 BST: It’s just a 10-minute break between innings btw. Full 45 would have been good banter, but the ICC are not in the business of banter. Not intentional banter anyway.

1051 BST: New Zealand 239/8 (50 overs)
New Zealand haven’t got the boundaries they’d have liked this morning, but they’ve run well. Even the run out was decent hustle from Taylor, just outdone by the brilliance in the field from Jadeja. Santner and Boult – one of the great batsmen to watch – swish, swipe, hurry and scurry their way to seven runs from the final over to set India 240 for victory. Feels like that was the bare minimum New Zealand needed this morning to make things interesting. But they’ll have to bowl and field like demons. And get Rohit early.

1045 BST: New Zealand 232/8 (49 overs)
New Zealand still short of what would’ve been India’s 46-over target had they been required to take on such a chase yesterday.

WICKET! Matt Henry c b Kumar 1 (2b, SR: 50.00)
First boundary of the morning, and it’s a fine shot from Mitchell Santner to wait on a slower ball from Bhuvi and smash it into a gap at cover. On a pitch where nobody has really been able to time the ball consistently that’s a superb effort from just the second ball he’s faced. Henry perishes looking to clear rather than merely reach the ropes. Succeeds only in picking out Kohli at long-on.

WICKET! Tom Latham c Jadeja b Kumar 10 (11b, SR: 90.90)
It’s the Ravi Jadeja show in Manchester. More brilliance in the outfield from the great man. He’s 10 yards in from the rope to try and prevent the two, but has to backpedal and jump to take the catch as Latham makes good contact with a swipe out to deep midwicket.

1039 BST: New Zealand 225/6 (48 overs)
Eight from the Bumrah over as well as the wicket.

WICKET! Ross Taylor run out (Jadeja) 74 (90b, 3×4, 1×6, SR: 82.22)
Good scurrying and scampering this morning from New Zealand, but in the end it – along with the latest bit of nonsense fielding from Ravi Jadeja – does for Taylot. He’s hustling back for what would have been the fifth two in 11 balls this morning but is undone by a direct hit of a one-stump target from 40 yards by Jadeja. Stunning, absolutely stunning. Needed a direct hit as well.

1033 BST: New Zealand 217/5 (47 overs)
Those who’ve been sweating on a Ross Taylor top New Zealand batsman bet since 2pm yesterday afternoon can breathe a sigh of relief as he slaps a single to deep cover from the first ball of the day (the second ball of the over). Latham scampers a couple to long-leg and then a quick single before Taylor nudges a Stokes-style two to midwicket where the ball barely reaches the 30-yard circle.

1028 BST: No anthems. Sun shining. Lovely stuff.

1025 BST: Christ, I hope not. See also: 45-minute break between innings.

1005 BST: And now he’s having a bowl. What a guy.

0935 BST: Big shout I know, but Virat Kohli is pretty good at batting.

0855 BST: Still a good while until play resumes here. So couple of bits for you to read in the meantime. We’ve got a full preview of tomorrow’s second semi-final between Australia and England for you to enjoy, plus the latest from Alex Bowden on Usman Khawaja’s magnificent dismissal against South Africa. Passes the time, doesn’t it?

0845 BST: This looks okay.

0830 BST: Let’s all try that again, shall we? Welcome to day two of this one-day international. God, I love cricket so much. After yesterday’s rain we pick up the game where it left off. That means no reduction in overs or anything like that – unless and until we get more rain today, but let’s leave that for now. So we’ll kick off with New Zealand trying to scramble whatever they can in 23 balls to bolster their current vaguely inadequate 211/5 and then a full 50-over India run-chase.

1850 BST: Ticketing info for the reserve day here. Ticketholders can get in with their ticket from today. No tickets on sale tomorrow.

1825 BST: PLAY IS SUSPENDED FOR THE DAY. There we go. We all come back tomorrow, where the match will continue as a 50-over affair with 23 balls of New Zealand’s innings remaining. Unless it rains again, which it may well do. But that is quite literally a concern for another day. We’ll pick this up tomorrow. Come back here then.

1744 BST: There does now appear to be agreement about the 1835 BST cut-off for any restart. That looks too tight in my opinion. I think we’re coming back tomorrow. Inspection at 1810.

1733 BST: If you’re a New Zealand fan, you desperately want this game done – or at least restarted –  tonight. India chasing 148 in 20 overs after all this rain is surely New Zealand’s best chance.

1730 BST: The rain has stopped at the precise moment that it almost certainly won’t allow us to get a game in today but could very well allow for an hour of fannying about before that decision is reached.

1722 BST: We’re going to need to come back tomorrow. Everyone surely now knows and accepts this. Important now not to fanny about for another hour before making that inevitable decision.

1710 BST: Not happening today, is it?

1704 BST: Tomorrow’s forecast is crap, by the way.

1700 BST: Bad news here re. ‘rain stopping in the next half-hour or so’.

1650 BST: Suggestion now is that if we’re not back under way by 1835 BST today then everyone comes back tomorrow. We’re looking at an hour, you’d think, after the rain stops before play would resume. So it needs to stop raining in the next half-hour or so for a game today.

Reminder that the first priority will be to finish today reducing the overs if necessary. If we come back tomorrow we resume a full 50-over match. If we restart tonight with overs lost and still end up coming back tomorrow we will finish off that shortened game. If we still don’t get a game in at all at the end of tomorrow, India go through due to finishing higher in the group table.

1631 BST: It’s almost stopped raining. When it stops raining we’ll get an inspection, and then people will start complaining about how long it’s taking for the inspection to happen and then they’ll announce another inspection half an hour after the first inspection and so on and so forth. Rain delays are the best.

1614 BST: We might not be losing overs yet. They can still reduce the lunch break. It’s all good fun. More fun than most of New Zealand’s pre-rain batting.

1601 BST: The overs are being reduced… now.

Does look a lot more promising than 40 minutes ago, though.

1554 BST: The rain has reduced in intensity. But the overs are about to start slip, slip, slipping away.

1522 BST: Re. the 1500 BST update, there is also a “discretionary hour” the match referee can use to get a result in today. Could be wrong, but I think that’s more there if we get to the official cut-off time with India, say, eight runs short of their target with two overs to go. Essentially it’s there to try and reduce the prospect of returning tomorrow for a farcically small quantity of play and the millions of inevitable hoots of “Cricket shoots itself in the foot again” that would then dominate #CricketTwitter.

1515 BST: New Zealand will probably be happy enough for their innings to end now anyway. DLS will do far more for their total than another two overs against Bumrah would.

1500 BST: We’ve now been off the field for an hour. One more hour to go before we start losing overs. Roughly half-an-hour after that we’ll be down to a 46-over game. Every four minutes after that we’ll lose another over from India’s run-chase until we get down to 20. Fag-packet calculations – there’s lunch to factor in somewhere here as well – you’re looking at about something around 6.20 to 6.30pm local time as a cutoff for any restart today.

1455 BST: Good news and bad news…

1435 BST: The heavy rain has arrived. This will be a lengthy delay now.

1419 BST: Here’s the state of play on DLS should we need it later. If this is the end of New Zealand’s innings and India have a 46-over chase the target will be 237. If India’s innings is reduced to 20 overs, their target would be 148.

Rain Old Trafford India New Zealand World Cup PA

1415 BST: Rob Key pretty confident on Sky about the prospects for the rest of the day. The rain, like New Zealand’s run-rate, is steady rather than spectacular. The groundstaff reckon most of the worst of the rain has slipped past us behind The Point. The outfield is still okay, and if the rain does stop reasonably soon it shouldn’t take too long for a restart. Unfortunately on the radar we’re going to need a bit of luck to continue avoiding the heavy stuff.

1403 BST: Just a bit of rules and regs chat here. There is a reserve day, but all efforts will be made to finish the game today. There are an additional two hours available to extend play, but if overs have to be lost today then they will be. Using the reserve day to finish the game is the last resort. The shortest game we could have from here is a 20-over India run-chase. The absolute banter option therefore remains India getting 18 overs into their chase when the rain returns and forcing everyone to come back tomorrow so they can score six off the last 12 or whatever. Hopefully it won’t come to that. We definitely wouldn’t find that funny. We definitely don’t want that to happen. Honestly.

1400 BST: New Zealand 211/5 (46.1 overs) – RAIN STOPPED PLAY
India give away another run, a Chahal misfield turning an easy single into a scampered two for Taylor, but that’s going to be the last action for a while as the forecast rain that has toyed with us thus far has finally arrived in sufficient quantities for the umpires to make their move, followed by the groundstaff.

1357 BST: New Zealand 209/5 (46 overs)
New Zealand in that tricky position of needing to dramatically up the rate in the closing overs but coming up against the fact that those overs will be bowled by Bumrah. India charitably decide to help out, turning a Taylor single into three with overthrows at both the keeper’s and bowler’s end. Seven runs from the over in all.

1353 BST: New Zealand 202/5 (45 overs)
Tom Latham has many qualities. Trying to get a total up to par in the last five overs is not at the top of the list. But he’s got to give it a crack here.

WICKET! Colin de Grandhomme c Dhoni b Kumar 16 (10b, 2×4, SR: 160.00)
Taylor gambles on a review and it pays off. He’s given out lbw trying to sweep Bhuvi and after the first couple of replays on the big screen actually starts to walk. But wait there, Ross my man, because Hawk-Eye shows the impact is a gnat’s hair outside off stump and Taylor survives. Gets two to cover from the next ball, and a single to bring up the 200 for New Zealand, before de Grandhomme, a man capable of clearing any boundary, attempts a deft little flick to third-man and feathers an edge to Dhoni. Clever bowling from Kumar, a slower ball slammed into this unpredictable Old Trafford pitch, but the wrong option from de Grandhomme. In this situation you could forgive him almost any shot apart from that one. Caught on the boundary anywhere from cover to long-leg would have been completely understandable.

1347 BST: New Zealand 197/4 (44 overs)
Big over for New Zealand. Taylor adds a four through midwicket to go with that six, and de Grandhomme slaps Chahal’s final ball of the day to the point fence. Much better from New Zealand, but it comes with the horrible nagging thought that it’s something they maybe should have done a few overs earlier. Spots of rain on the camera lens now as well.

1343 BST: Ross Taylor 50* (73b, 3×4, 1×6, SR: 68.49)
Taylor finally gets hold of one, nailing Chahal over midwicket for six to bring up a half-century that has been exhausting for all concerned. Could still end up absolutely vital, of course.

1342 BST: New Zealand 179/4 (43 overs)
It’s started raining by the way. Not raining boundaries. Raining rain. Only spitting, but the groundstaff are hovering. De Grandhomme carves Pandya down to third-man for four and then flicks to long-leg for a couple more. He’s reached 12 off eight balls, which is frankly superhuman based on everything else we’ve seen today.

1337 BST: New Zealand 170/4 (42 overs)
A scampered two from Colin de Grandhomme from the third ball of the 42nd over is significant. It’s the shot that finally takes New Zealand’s run-rate to four an over for the first time today.

1331 BST: New Zealand 162/4 (41 overs)
Mad that vast numbers of cricket fans genuinely go through the rigmarole of pretending this is a better pitch for one-day cricket than one where 380 plays 350. The effect of this pitch has been exaggerated by India bowling strikingly well and New Zealand batting precisely like a team that has just lost heavily three games in a row, but it’s mad how two-paced and inconsistent this pitch has been for a brand new deck at Old Trafford. The pitch here on Saturday was great.

WICKET! James Neesham c Karthik b Pandya 12 (18b, 1×4, SR: 66.67)
Neesham skies Pandya to long-on, where we assume Karthik took a comfortable catch – the cameraman didn’t manage to track it. Seems to have all gone without a hitch anyway. Wicket for Pandya, reward for a brave effort here. Hope he isn’t putting his spot in the final under any threat with this injury-defying performance.

1324 BST: New Zealand 155/3 (40 overs)
Mark Butcher is not happy with the World Cup pitches. He’s gone full Bairstow, he’s also got a point. In one-day cricket, flat pitches are good pitches. Never trust any of these pseuds and frauds who pretend to find sixes dull and think 220 should be a 50-over par score.

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1318 BST: New Zealand 145/3 (38 overs)
Pandya now through eight of his 10 overs, a remarkable effort given he has been injured since the fourth of them. Should have had a wicket here as well, Rohit – not India’s most agile in the field – failing to get to a Neesham miscue that looped invitingly towards him.

1313 BST: New Zealand 140/3 (37 overs)
Taylor currently caught in that most invidious of positions given the match situations: can’t score runs, can’t get out.

1308 BST: New Zealand 136/3 (36 overs)
Jimmy Neesham nudged up the order to number five.

WICKET! Kane Williamson c Jadeja b Chahal 67 (95b, 6×4, SR: 70.52)
Williamson goes, his latest attempt to get the run-rate moving succeeding only in slicing Chahal to Jadeja at point. Had to do something.

1303 BST: New Zealand 133/2 (35 overs)
Taylor cannot find his form, so Williamson decides he has to go here. Hits Jadeja in-to-out over extra cover and is denied a boundary only by an athletic piece of work from Pant in the deep. Does get four later in the over for a robust slog-sweep over midwicket. Despite an expensive final over, just 34 from Jadeja’s 10. Job done.

1251 BST: New Zealand 122/2 (33 overs)
Jadeja sneaks another cheap over in. Rightly or wrongly, New Zealand are aiming for 250 – and will only get that far if they bat out of their skins in the closing overs. A lot of eggs going in the ‘pressure of chasing in a World Cup knockout game’ basket here. Time for drinks.

1248 BST: New Zealand 121/2 (32 overs)
Bumrah back to try and break this partnership and comes within a whisker of doing so. Leg-cutter finds Taylor’s outside edge, but Dhoni can’t get his gloves under the ball. Just about carried, I think. Big lbw appeal to end the over, but nothing doing there either. Bumrah doesn’t make the breakthrough but gets second prize. Just a single from the over.

1243 BST: New Zealand 120/2 (31 overs)
Williamson and Taylor belatedly do try and get after Pandya. Both of them miscue attempts to go after the short ball, and both get away with it. Williamson does rather better than that, his top-edged hook sailing high over Dhoni for a one-bounce four. Taylor gets just a single for his. Even with the added intent, though, still just seven from the over.

1239 BST: New Zealand 113/2 (30 overs)
Better from Taylor, getting a sweep away to the long-leg boundary. But New Zealand surely have to go after Pandya’s overs here. He can hardly move but has to get through his overs given India’s total lack of alternatives.

1238 BST: Kane Williamson 50* (79b, 4×4, SR: 63.29)
Williamson gets to 50, as he generally does. Been a real struggle, though.

1235 BST: New Zealand 105/2 (29 overs)
New Zealand finally creak through to three figures. They’ve got to do something pretty significant and soon. I know batting first has meant victory here all through the tournament, but 220-230 surely isn’t going to cut it today.

1231 BST: New Zealand 99/2 (28 overs)
A much-needed over for New Zealand. The game was just drifting away from them as surely as life was drifting from my bastard laptop. There’s an air of desperation in Williamson’s slog-sweep off Chahal here, but something had to happen and there were wide open spaces at midwicket. Taylor gets four more with a late cut that goes a touch finer than he intended but well wide of slip.

1226 BST: New Zealand 89/2 (27 overs)
Pandya’s back. Not looking delighted about the prospect, but he’s managed to tick off one more over and it’s only cost four runs. He’s through five now, and if he can somehow get through five more India will be fine.

Some news from The Hundred, where Leeds Superchargers are sadly no more. They are now the Northern Superchargers. Better news from South London, though, where the Oval Greats have been replaced by the even more vainglorious Oval Invincibles. They are going to lose every game and we’re all for it.

1222 BST: New Zealand 85/2 (26 overs)
Big appeal for lbw against Taylor, but India have no review. Kohli then misses the target when a direct hit would have done for Williamson. Slightly desperate run, that. Chahal definitely would have been asking for a review had one been available, but it was umpire’s call anyway. Clipping leg. These two just sitting in for now, but you’d think one of them – Taylor probably – has to do something. There is this, though…

1220 BST: New Zealand 83/2 (25 overs)
Chahal is bowling very well here. Would dearly love to tell you more about it. He’s spinning it miles, anyway.

1211 BST: New Zealand 77/2 (22 overs)
Jadeja and Chahal start rushing through their overs at the precise moment my laptop decides to have one of its moments, because India, cricket and indeed the world itself all hate me. New Zealand on the other hand, great bunch of lads, don’t lose any wickets or score any proper runs.

1200 BST: New Zealand 71/2 (19 overs)
One quick wicket here for India…

WICKET! Henry Nicholls b Jadeja 28 (51b, 2×4, SR: 54.90)
Slightly lazy forward defensive from Nicholls, and it proves horribly inadequate as Jadeja gets one to spin back from round the wicket and knock back middle stump. Williamson and Taylor together again with New Zealand’s hopes squarely upon their shoulders.

Henry Nicholls New Zealand India World Cup PA

1156 BST: New Zealand 69/1 (18 overs)
Sub-optimal start for Chahal as he bungs his first delivery way down leg and Dhoni can’t save him. Briefly has figures of 0-0-5-0 and an infinite economy rate which is always good fun. New Zealand getting into a reasonable position now, though, after scrambling through those first 10 fiendishly difficult overs for the loss of just one wicket.

1152 BST: New Zealand 61/1 (17 overs)
Any time cricket punishes a side that has picked three wicketkeepers but only five bowlers, I feel like our sport just has its priorities all wrong.

1148 BST: New Zealand 57/1 (16 overs)
Pandya struggling here. Looks like his hip or groin. I’m not a medical doctor, not a trained medical doctor. But he’s definitely struggling. Manages to get through the over without damage to his figures if not his body, and will surely now head off for treatment. Be an issue for India if that is anything serious as they really only have five bowling options today. Virat joked that he was ready to bowl after being told he once dismissed Kane Williamson in an Under-19 World Cup semi-final; might have to now.

1142 BST: New Zealand 55/1 (15 overs)
Pepe’s just did an advert aimed at the entire United Kingdom instead of having 47 different ones aimed at the people of Sutton Coldfield, Swansea, etc. I’m reeling here. I won’t be able to do proper updates for at least the next five overs, I’m afraid.

1136 BST: New Zealand 52/1 (14 overs)
Misfield from Chahal at third-man – key position for Kane – allows Williamson a boundary to bring up New Zealand’s 50. That’s been a battle. That’ll be drinks after just 14 overs. We’re going to be here until midnight. Still, we’ve got the lights on. Come back tomorrow if we need.

1132 BST: New Zealand 44/1 (13 overs)
Wouldn’t do to criticise either Pandya or Jadeja for not being quite as good as Kumar and Bumrah in these conditions. But my word the contrast is so marked. Obviously, one of this pair will now take the four or five wickets Kumar and Bumrah’s new-ball spells deserved.

1128 BST: New Zealand 38/1 (12 overs)
Batting just getting slightly easier now for this pair, who have battled their way through superb spells from Kumar and Bumrah. Still not easy, but easier. Williamson gets his second four with a confident pull shot through midwicket. The outfield and pitch appear to be from different grounds. So far today it’s been a typically English pitch with a sub-continent outfield.

1123 BST: New Zealand 34/1 (11 overs)
Eventful first over for Jadeja. Huge lbw shout against Nicholls as the ball spins back into his pads. Close, but not out the verdict. India, of course, no longer have recourse to the review having spunked it on the very first ball of the morning, but it’s umpire’s call anyway, just clipping the top of leg. Definitely umpire’s call for line, but probably for height as well. Fair enough not out decision given the amount of spin. Next ball Nicholls is on the sweep and hits the ball hard for four, almost taking out Rohit at leg-slip on its way through.

1117 BST: New Zealand 27/1 (10 overs)
Lowest Powerplay score of the tournament…

1112 BST: New Zealand 23/1 (9 overs)
This outfield is in extraordinary condition given the rain overnight. A pleasing push through mid-on from Williamson absolutely races away from mid-on as he attempts vainly to give chase. Nod of appreciation from Kohli after that, presumably in acknowledgement of both the shot and the outfield. They were both very impressive.

1108 BST: New Zealand 18/1 (8 overs)
A boundary! Few surprising things about it. One, it’s off Bumrah. Two, it’s by Nicholls. And three, it’s a beauty. Bumrah’s great strength in this spell has been how full he’s bowled, so churlish to be too critical of this one but it is too full this time, a real half-volley, and Nicholls is equal to it as he drills the ball through extra-cover. Lovely stuff. More impressive still from Nicholls because that crisp shot and assured footwork came after the most tentative of fences outside off stump the ball before.

1103 BST: New Zealand 10/1 (7 overs)
A punch off the back foot gets Williamson two and pulls New Zealand into double-figures. My word this bowling is good. Still no boundaries in the innings, a stat preserved by a ridiculous diving stop from Jadeja at backward-point. Well, ridiculous for most people that is. Standard for him. FUNKY FIELD KLAXON: For Williamson, Kohli now has a wide slip to try and cut off that one Williamson just hits on the head down to third-man, while Kohli himself is in very close at point.

1059 BST: New Zealand 8/1 (6 overs)
Jasprit Bumrah’s run-up is one of the wonders of the age. Great to see some attempt at in-depth analysis of it in this over. As if such a thing can be studied or analysed. Smith sums it up. “It’s not an action where you can show it to your son and say ‘bowl like that.'”

1054 BST: New Zealand 7/1 (5 overs)
The inherent calm and quality that Williamson brings to the crease plus some canny scrambling and scampering drags New Zealand’s run-rate kicking and screaming above one an over.

1049 BST: New Zealand 2/1 (4 overs)
Williamson beaten first ball. Good grief, this really is astonishing bowling. Gets off the mark to end the over, though, doubling New Zealand’s total in the process. Kohli had a bit of treatment on his hands after taking that catch, by the way. Don’t think it’s anything to worry about beyond hard ball + cold hands x serious pace = soreness.

WICKET! Martin Guptill c Kohli b Bumrah 1 (14b, SR: 7.14)
Well that’s just come from absolutely nowhere, eh. Bumrah is an absolute phenom, and he’s struck again with the new ball here. Big fat edge from Guptill, and a decent, sharp catch at head height from Kohli at second slip. Been a horror tournament for Guptill -with the bat anyway – and that’s probably the end of it.

Jasprit Bumrah India New Zealand World Cup PA

1043 BST: New Zealand 1/0 (3 overs)
New Zealand have both a run and a statistically above-average length opening partnership if we quite rightly exclude the Sri Lanka one that started the tournament on the basis that it was several hundred years ago now. Advantage New Zealand.

1039 BST: New Zealand 0/0 (2 overs)
“Nervous start from New Zealand,” says Ian Smith in as blatant an example of projection as you’ll ever hear outside a Donald Trump Twitter rant. Unlike Trump, Smithy also isn’t wrong. Another maiden from the astonishing Jasprit Bumrah despite Henry Nicholls’ increasingly transparent desperation to scamper a single somewhere, anywhere, anyhow.

1035 BST: New Zealand 0/0 (1 over)
Bloody hell. Martin Guptill has had two first-ballers in this tournament already (see below) and survives a huge lbw shout first ball from Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Slightly surprisingly, Virat Kohli opts for the review even though it looks a bit legsidey, and sure enough it’s missing leg. India now face 299 reviewless deliveries. Could be costly. Superb first over from Bhuvi, though. There’s another strangled leg-before shout and a play and miss from Guptill before the first six balls are done. Ian Smith already having kittens on commentary. Long day ahead.

Virat Kohli review India New Zealand World Cup PA

1030 BST: Here we go…

1022 BST: Hope Kane’s got his pads on.

1017 BST: Batting first would have been a tricky call for anyone today, but none more so than Kane Williamson, a de facto opener despite batting at three. His innings at this World Cup have begun after 0.5 overs, 9.2 overs, 1.1 overs, 0.1 overs, 2.1 overs, 0.1 overs and 5.1 overs. On average, Kane Williamson has been at the crease after 2.4 overs during this World Cup.

(For completeness we should note that New Zealand, hilariously given what has followed, began their World Cup by sauntering to a 10-wicket win over Sri Lanka.)

1010 BST: Look at that sky, though.

1008 BST: This, basically.

1005 BST: One change for each team. Chahal in, Kuldeep out for India; Ferguson in, Southee out for New Zealand.

1002 BST: Kane Williamson wins the toss and bats first. Correct but bold. Which is very Kane Williamson.

0950 BST: Going to be a brave captain who bats first, even though it is absolutely what you should do. Every game at Old Trafford in this tournament has been won by the side batting first.

0945 BST: It’s here! Knockout cricket! Semi-finals! And thene a final! With reserve days and everything! And it’s only taken approximately 207 of your earth years to get here! India v New Zealand up first, as the in-form superpower meet a Black Caps side that has stumbled arse-backwards over the line on the back of three straight defeats. Big decision to come at the toss today after a fortnight of teams winning the toss, batting first and – for the most part – winning the game under sunny skies. Inexplicably and uncharacteristically, it is greyer and gloomier in Manchester today and there has been heavy overnight rain. One of those days when New Zealand in particular might quite like India to win the toss and bat first so that Trent Boult and co can exploit any early-morning advantage without the pressure of having chosen to do so. Or, to put it more succinctly, it might be A GOOD TOSS TO LOSE.