India vs NZ semifinal talking points: Mohammed Shami picks up 7 as the Men in Blue survive Kiwi scare to reach final

On a day when the batsmen dominated, Mohammed Shami stood out with a sensational bowling performance with yet another 5-for in ODI World Cups

India reached its 4th ODI World Cup final after beating a valiant New Zealand by 70 runs in the first semifinal on November 15 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

While the margin of victory looks substantial, the Men in Blue had to weather a Darryl Mitchell storm as the Kiwis at one point almost looked like doing the impossible; chasing a near-400 target. The right-handed batter batted superbly for his 134 (119), and stitched a great 3rd-wicket partnership of 181 with captain Kane Williamson (69 of 73), but his superb innings was in vain as New Zealand fell short.

India set a steep target of 398, thanks to a sensational batting performance headlined by Virat Kohli's record-breaking 50th century in front of an august audience that included former football superstar David Beckham.

Here are the big talking points from the match.

1) The Virat Kohli era

Regardless of today's result, Virat Kohli cemented his place in history after hitting his 50th ODI ton, surpassing the long-standing record of 49 centuries held by Sachin Tendulkar. To make it an even more special occasion, Tendulkar was in attendance along with Bollywood celebrities and business magnates.

With 80 centuries in total, can he surpass Tendulkar's ultimate record of 100 tons in international cricket? Read our piece here

2) New Zealand bowlers take a pounding

The Kiwi bowlers were taken to the cleaners by every single Indian batsman starting from skipper Rohit Sharma, through Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli, and ending with Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul.

Tim Southee came in for particular punishment today, conceding 100 runs in his 10 overs. Apart from Mitchell Santner - the slow left-arm conceded only 51 runs in his 10 overs with 1 maiden - no Kiwi bowler could control the first innings during any period.

3) India's poor fielding

While India hit it out of the park with the bat, literally, their fielding left a lot to be desired. The Men in Blue were sloppy on the outfield, with many misfields costing an extra 1-2 runs on many occasions, and on a few occasions the ball even reached the boundary; Jasprit Bumrah being the culprit on one occasion. Mohammed Shami, who was at his usual excellent self with the ball, dropped Kane Williamson at mid-on. While the fielding improved as victory became more obvious towards the end of the game, overall, it was an average performance on the field.

4) Mohammed Shami - Sultan of Seam

The quickie provided the turning point of the match in the second innings when he was brought back into the attack in the 33rd over after the second drinks break. After Mitchell got to his 100 with a single, Shami struck a double blow. First, he atoned for his dropped catch by dismissing Williamson caught at deep square leg and then two balls later Tom Latham was trapped in front of the stumps for LBW for no score.

This changed the momentum in India's favour and barring a second wind from the Kiwis, India coasted to victory.

The Williamson scalp was his 50th wicket in ODI World Cups, and he is easily India's best bowler in this tournament. The right arm quick ended with the best ever figures by an Indian bowler in an ODI World Cup with 7/57.

Read our piece on what makes Mohammed Shami so special.

5) Playing conditions - 'Slow' pitch and lack of dew

The biggest talking point even before a ball was bowled was the Wankhede pitch. News before the match was that the game would be played on a used surface, which many social media commentators objected to the move calling it an unfair home advantage for India. However, there is no ICC requirement that World Cup knockout matches must be played on unused pitches and both teams got on with business.

Also Read: 'Virat Kohli era': Cricketing legends react to 'King' Kohli's 50 ODI centuries

However, India did make more of the slightly slower surface as Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav extracted more spin than New Zealand's Rachin Ravindra. What helped the Indian bowlers more was the lack of presence of dew in the second innings, which allowed them to grip the ball a lot better than expected.

A combination of these two factors saw India wrestle the game back from New Zealand, who were at one point on course for doing the impossible.