London: Ravindra Jadeja’s fighting 77 went in vain as India were defeated by an 18-run by New Zealand in the semi-final of the 2019 Cricket World Cup.
After top order batsmen Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul failed in a run chase of 240, Jadeja’s blazing half-century revived Indian hopes. But his dismissal followed by the run out of MS Dhoni left India short by 18 runs.
Jadeja hit Trent Boult into the air and was caught for a magnificent 77 off 59 balls and next over Dhoni was run out for 49 to end the Indian resistance and New Zealand celebrated a nerve-racking 18-run win.
New Zealand will take on either England or Australia in Sunday’s final.
In 2015, New Zealand had lost to Australia in a one-sided final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
In the 2015 World Cup, after dominant performances in the group stage India were defeated by Australia in semifinal.
Brief scores: New Zealand 239/8 in 50 overs (Ross Taylor 74, Kane Williamson 67; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3-43) beat India221 in 49.3 overs (Ravindra Jadeja 77, MS Dhoni 50; Matt Henry 3-37) by 18 runs.