World Cup 2019: 5 Thrilling semifinals in the history of the tournament
After a hard-fought battle between teams, Virat Kohli's India secured the top spot with seven wins in the league stage of the ongoing Cricket World Cup. Australia suffered a shock defeat against an out-of-form South Africa in their last league game which has put them below India in the standings.
As a result of this loss, the defending champions have booked a semifinal date against pre-tournament favorites England. The hosts started off their campaign brilliantly but defeat to Sri Lanka and Australia put their fate in jeopardy for a while. Although England qualified on their own, their inability to chase down targets is an area of concern.
The ever-consistent New Zealand had 11 points from six games and looked to be the first team to reach the knockout stages. But they qualified to the next round as the final team as they lost their last three league matches.
With every team possessing their own strengths and weaknesses, the twin semi-final promises to be an exciting one. On that note, let's look back at five of the most thrilling semi-finals in the history of the tournament.
#5 1983: A confident India beat England to qualify for their first ever final
In the 1983 World Cup India surprised every team by securing big wins over the much-fancied West Indies and Australia.
Led by their inspirational captain Kapil Dev, they took on hosts England in the semi-finals. The English batsmen struggled and only managed to put on 213 in 60 overs.
Having failed twice in the league stage to successfully chase a score of 200, India was circumspect to start off with.
Yashpal Sharma and Mohinder Amarnath's 92-run partnership took India closer to victory. Sandeep Patil then played a counterattacking knock of 51 runs off 32 balls to take India to their first ever WC final.
Mohinder Amarnath was given the man of the match for his 46 and two wickets. India's final berth is seen as an achievement in itself as they had won only one game in the previous two WCs.
Also read – World cup most wickets