In India they call them Jeb Katra, ‘pickpockets,’ though what Australia did to Rohit Sharma’s team in the World Cup final will feel much worse than being relieved of one’s small change after the home side had pretty much played the perfect tournament.

Has there ever been heartbreak on this scale after Pat Cummins’ Aussies beat just about everyone’s favourite last Sunday?

Forget the 130,000 stunned into a library-like silence in the Narendra Modi stadium. There was also a billion-plus TV audience, most of it wearing light blue and anticipating the glory that continues to elude this storied India team.

Never underestimate the weight of expectation such a vast following places upon a side. It can alter minds and while Australia had their most complete performance of the tournament, augmented by a brilliant chasing hundred from Travis Head, India enabled their opponents by being far too timid with the bat.

They did the same against England a year ago in the semi-final of the World T20, and lost that one too. They obviously feel the pressure of the big occasion, which is natural, but it’s as if they expect that pressure to double on their opponents.

Maybe with most teams it would, but Australia live for the big occasions, their ability to turn reservation into relish legendary. This was their sixth World Cup title out of 13.

Even the master calculator, Virat Kohli, arguably the game’s greatest 50-over batsman, seemed overly restrained, as if batting on a minefield. The pitch did not look great but Cummins, having won the toss and bowled first, had factored in evening dew to help in that regard.

When it arrived (enabling balls to skid on and batsmen to better time their shots), India knew their total of 240 would not be competitive despite the pre-eminence of their bowling attack.

The 50-over format is less revered than it used to be. The rise of T20 and even shorter forms has made many question its validity, broadcasters especially.

It might get a boost after Cummins said he had ‘fallen in love with the format again’, though he did qualify his claim by saying it was the World Cup he enjoyed rather than bilateral series.

Given the boost T20 cricket got when India won the inaugural World T20 in 2007, it may have been better for the survival of 50-over cricket had the hosts won on Sunday. India’s Cricket Board and government crave populism and winning a World Cup at home, even a 50-over one, would have created a groundswell to keep the format alive for another 30 years.

Instead, 50-over cricket will no doubt join Test matches on the doom- mongers’ endangered species list, even though it remains a cut above T20 for those of us who enjoy nuance with our bat and ball.

World Cup hits

Best innings: Travis Head’s hundred in the final, under massive pressure, will take some beating as the innings of the World Cup but it probably has to make way for Glenn Maxwell’s cramp-hit 201 not out off 128 balls against Afghanistan, which included ten sixes and 21 fours. Forget that he was dropped twice. People present at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium said it was beyond hyperbole – something that will not be emulated, let alone bested, for a very long time.

Captaincy: Pat Cummins and Rohit Sharma. Cummins’ leadership qualities were pilloried during the recent Ashes series and again when Australia lost their first two games in the World Cup.

But he blocked out the noise and showed his critics bowlers can make great leaders. Although outfoxed by Cummins on Sunday, Rohit led by example throughout, especially with the bat during Powerplays. His team might have been too timid during the final but he was the epitome of graceful savagery, at least until he got carried away and Head’s brilliant catch got rid of him.

Top bowlers: Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, India’s pace bowlers. Time was when India focused solely on spin but these two were world class during the tournament taking 44 wickets between them. On the spin front, Australia’s Adam Zampa excelled, despite giving off the air of a little boy lost. His 23 wickets, with wrist spin, were a major factor in Australia’s success.

Breakthrough: Afghanistan. Having never won a World Cup match from 12 attempts in previous tournaments they proceeded to win four in India, including against England. They possess fine spinners in Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman and an exciting opening batsman, Ibrahim Zadran. All they need are some quick bowlers to support Naveen-ul-Haq and they’ll put more noses out of joint.

Dignified exit: David Willey, who despite being the only England player not to be handed a new central contract, maintained dignity and high standards by taking 11 wickets in six games. Showed what he thought of England’s chaotic set-up by announcing his retirement from international cricket.

World Cup misses

Champs to chumps: England simply failed to turn up. Something scrambled their minds, though whether that was uncertainty over how best to approach matches or by announcing central contracts midway through their campaign (a bizarre decision), nobody is really saying.

They set out to play with T20 chutzpah but were slow to adjust when it became obvious this was only possible at certain venues and on certain pitches. Of the 93 innings at this World Cup, just 25 saw scores in excess of 300. You had to gauge what a competitive score would be and manage your way to it, something England were hopeless at doing.

Mind the gaps: The International Cricket Council, who claimed a record 1.25million people attended the World Cup. Maybe, but from 48 matches it was a slightly disappointing figure in a country as populous as India. Stadia were only full for India’s matches and knockout games – a risk, perhaps, of having a 50-over World Cup in a country where T20 reigns supreme.

Under the weather: The dew was a problem. Waiting for it to form (or not) under floodlights during the second innings, exercised many a captain’s decision at the toss. When it came in the final, making batting easier, you could see India’s resignation that the game was up. That dew should play such a big part (it also hinders bowlers and fielders) is a nonsense. Luckily, solutions are at hand. Either add a meteorologist to the team’s support staff or play during daylight hours, like cricketers did before broadcasters hijacked the game.

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Transgender players who have been through male puberty will not be able to play international women’s cricket under new gender eligibility regulations announced by the International Cricket Council.

In September, Canada’s Danielle McGahey became the first transgender cricketer to take part in an official international match when she featured in a Women’s T20 fixture against Brazil.

The 29-year-old opening batter went on to play all six of Canada’s matches during the Women’s T20 World Cup Americas region qualifiers event in Los Angeles, to add to national team appearances previously in fixtures which did not hold official ICC status.

Transgender athletes have been banned from taking part in elite women’s competitions in other sports such as swimming, cycling, athletics, rugby league and rugby union.

Under the ICC’s previous regulations, which were effective from October 2018 and amended in April 2021, McGahey had satisfied all of the eligibility criteria.

However, following an ICC board meeting, new gender regulations have been announced, which follow a nine-month consultation process with the sport’s stakeholders.

The ICC said the new policy is ‘based on the following principles (in order of priority), protection of the integrity of the women’s game, safety, fairness and inclusion, and this means any male to female participants who have been through any form of male puberty will not be eligible to participate in the international women’s game regardless of any surgery or gender reassignment treatment they may have undertaken’.

The review, led by the ICC medical advisory committee and chaired by Dr Peter Harcourt, relates solely to gender eligibility for international women’s cricket.

Gender eligibility at domestic level is a matter for each individual member board, which the ICC notes ‘may be impacted by local legislation’. The regulations will be reviewed within two years.

ICC chief executive Geoff Allardice said: ‘The changes to the gender eligibility regulations resulted from an extensive consultation process and is founded in science and aligned with the core principles developed during the review.

‘Inclusivity is incredibly important to us as a sport, but our priority was to protect the integrity of the international women’s game and the safety of players.’

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Shane Warne’s eight-year old tweet in which he predicted Travis Head would become a ‘future star’ resurfaced after the Australian batsman played the innings of his life in Sunday’s World Cup final against India.

Australia arrived in Ahmedabad as underdogs, with the home side boasting a perfect record of 10 wins en route to the final, a monster crowd of over 110,000 roaring them on and familiar conditions.

But the 29-year-old took the starring role with a brilliant 137, making light work of India’s under-powered 240 all out, as a six-wicket win made his country six-time champions.

The flambouyant right-hander, already a mainstay of the team that one the World Test Championship and retained the Ashes earlier this summer, underlined his class with a breathtaking knock that sealed an historic victory.

Head’s winning hand would have come as no surprise to Warne, who passed away in March 2022, who always knew the Adelaide-born batsman was always destined for greatness.

‘I’m a big fan of Travis Head as a cricketer, I believe he will be a future star for Australia in all forms of the game,’ Warne tweeted back in 2014.

For Head, Sunday’s innings represented a fitting end to a tournament which started in contrasting fashion with Aussie opener nursing a broken hand which put his participation in jeopardy.

“Not in a million years did I think that would happen [being man of the match today and in the World Test Championship final]. What an amazing day. I’m just thrilled to be a part of it.

‘It is a lot better than being sat on the couch at home!’ said Head after scooping the man of the match award.

‘I’m very lucky that everything went well and I was able to get back and the support that the boys showed,

‘I didn’t think this would happen. I was nervous in the first 20 balls but Marnus [Labuschagne] batted brilliantly and it is great to bat with him. It was an amazing partnership.’

‘Trav does what he does. He’s really brave, he takes the game on, puts pressure on bowlers and to do it on the biggest stage showed huge character,’ added victorious skipper Pat Cummins.

‘It was amazing. We couldn’t be happier for Trav, he’s a legend and we love him… how fun is he to watch?

‘It’s also on the unheralded few, the selectors that backed him in even when he had a broken hand and the medical team to get him back out there. It was a big risk that we took and it paid off.’

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An all-female cricket team has entered the history books as the first to enter a prestigious – and traditionally male – league.

Ramsbottom Cricket Club’s first 11 is set to re-write the rulebook when they join the 131-year-old Lancashire League.

Formed back in 1892, the Lancashire League’s boasted rising stars of world cricket including Shane Warne, Kapil Dev, Allan Border, Viv Richards, Steve Waugh, Dennis Lillee, Clive Lloyd, Allan Donald, Andy Roberts and Michael Holding.

And a chance to add a woman’s name to that list of superstars comes when Ramsbottom joins the league’s third section next season.

It comes following the team’s unbeaten run in the women’s Lancashire Cricket Foundation League last summer.

They will begin their league campaign away against Bacup on April 20.

Their first home game will be against Accrington on April 27.

Andy Dalby, director of cricket at the club – one of the historic English league’s founders – said they decided to face mainly all-male sides after their success last year.

He said after getting the backing of the players, their parents and supporters, they approached the Lancashire League who were ‘hugely supportive of the initiative’.

Mr Dalby said: ‘The girls’ team, the first eleven, won every league game last year so, from my side of things, it was a natural progression to approach the chairman about what we do for next season.

‘After we spoke about potentially entering a women’s side into the Lancashire League, we then consulted with the girls themselves, the parents, and the supporters to hear their views.

‘Once we were certain of their support, we approached the Lancashire League who were hugely supportive of the initiative.’

The women’s and girl’s section at Ramsbottom was set up in 2020 and boasts an under 13s team, under 15s and an under 19s women’s side as well as second 11 and first 11 teams.

The club stressed the future of women’s cricket is women playing against women in a competitive league – but said they felt an interim solution was required for their first 11 to progress the side due to their dominance last season.

As well as playing in the Lancashire League, the women’s and girl’s first 11 will continue to compete in the women’s Lancashire Cricket Foundation League next season, where they will aim to retain the trophies they won this year.

Chairman John Fox said: ‘We’re really happy to try and be the standard bearer for women’s cricket in the Lancashire League and hopefully, the north west.

‘It’s a big thing from our point of view but we want to stress that it’s the women’s game as much as Ramsbottom Cricket Club. We’re here really to try and help the women’s game progress.’

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Australia face a nightmare scenario in their Cricket World Cup semi-final with South Africa if it rains for two days in Kolkata, possibly exiting the competition in an extremely frustrating fashion.

The Aussies made a blistering start to the match on Thursday, removing the South African top order cheaply and leaving them struggling at 44-4.

However, it started raining in Kolkata and the players were forced off after 14 overs, with Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller at the crease.

A reserve day has been set aside for the possibility that it continues to rain all day, but the forecast is poor for Friday as well, meaning there is a possibility of a complete washout.

If that is the case then South Africa would progress to the final to face India on Sunday as they finished higher than Australia in the group stage.

The Proteas finished second in the group, ahead of third-placed Australia on net run rate after both teams won seven and lost two of their nine games.

However the game would have started on Thursday this would be a frustrating scenario for Australia, but especially given the position they had put South Africa in when the rain came.

South Africa won the toss and chose to bat on Thursday, a decision that will come into question after the loss of Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram early on.

Those four quick wickets – two for Mitchell Starc and two for Josh Hazlewood – left South Africa 24-4, with Klaasen and Miller steadying the ship somewhat and taking them to 44-4.

Waiting in the final on Sunday are the hosts, India, who beat New Zealand by 70 runs in the first semi-final on Wednesday.

Centuries from Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer helped India set a mammoth total of 397-4, which the Kiwis chased valiantly, but fell short despite an immense 134 from Daryl Mitchell, bowled out for 327.

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Virat Kohli set a new benchmark as he recorded his 50th ODI century to overtake fellow India great Sachin Tendulkar as New Zealand were put to the sword in their World Cup semi-final.

Kohli equalled the record earlier this month and is now out in front as Tendulkar watched his former team-mate compile a superlative 117 off 113 balls to underpin India’s 397 for four in Mumbai.

After moving to three figures, Kohli jumped up and punched the air before sinking to his knees and soaking up the cacophonous applause from the likes of Tendulkar and former footballer David Beckham.

Tendulkar wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “The first time I met you in the Indian dressing room, you were pranked by other teammates into touching my feet.

‘I couldn’t stop laughing that day. But soon, you touched my heart with your passion and skill. I am so happy that that young boy has grown into a ‘Virat’ player.

‘I couldn’t be happier that an Indian broke my record. And to do it on the biggest stage – in the World Cup Semi-final – and at my home ground is the icing on the cake.’

Kohli, himself, was overcome with emotion and spoke after India’s innings had finished, saying: ‘It’s the stuff of dreams. Anushka [Sharma] was sitting right there. Sachin [Tendulkar] was in the stands. It’s very difficult to explain this. If I could paint the perfect picture, I would want this to be the picture.

‘My life partner, the person I love the most, she is sitting there. My hero Sachin is sitting there. I was able to get the 50th in front of them and these fans in such a historic venue. It was amazing.

‘In a big game anything over 330 or 340 you happy with so to get close to 400 is great. A lot of credit to Shreyas Iyer for the way he batted so freely. Also to Rohit at the top, Shubman at the top. Then KL Rahul finishing with a flurry.

‘I think everyone did their roles to perfection, did their jobs for the team. It was a perfect batting performance from us. Just one half of the game is done and we still have to be professional with the ball and do what we have done so far in the tournament.’

Shreyas Iyer thumped 105 off just 70 balls while there were contributions from captain Rohit Sharma (47), Shubman Gull (80no) and KL Rahul (39), with New Zealand struggling to contain their opponents.

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Andrew Flintoff has been appointed as head coach of the Northern Superchargers in The Hundred as the former England captain continues his return to the public eye following a serious car accident.

Flintoff gradually returned to the limelight through cricket in the summer after a crash last December while filming a stunt for the BBC show Top Gear left him hospitalised with facial and rib injuries.

He is now set for his first head coach role and replaces ex-England wicketkeeper James Foster, who left the Superchargers’ men’s team last week after two years with the Headingley-based outfit.

The 45-year-old said in a statement: ‘I am excited to have been appointed head coach of the Northern Superchargers men’s team.’

Flintoff, who earned national treasure status for his starring role in the seminal 2005 Ashes and was capped 227 times by England in all formats, had turned to broadcasting after ending his playing career.

He had receded from public view in the months following his crash but was coaxed by close friend and former team-mate Rob Key, the managing director of England men’s cricket, to return to the fold.

Flintoff joined England’s backroom team in an unpaid capacity for their ODI series against New Zealand and Ireland, and he will later this week travel to Abu Dhabi as part of the coaching staff for a training camp for the second-string Lions.

The Lancastrian added: ‘My time with the England men’s team has been a reminder of just how special cricket is to me.

‘I’m relishing the opportunity to be back amongst it, helping to guide the Superchargers team to success on the field while making memories off it and helping to take cricket to more people.

‘The Superchargers have a great fan base who I cannot wait to meet and bring along with us this season. I’m looking forward to making Headingley my new home.’

Flintoff takes charge of a team who finished bottom of the men’s standings this year, winning just two of their eight matches despite having England stars Adil Rashid and Harry Brook in their ranks.

The fourth edition of the 100-ball competition will take place next summer.

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Sports fans in South Africa are dreaming about winning both the Rugby and Cricket World Cups in less than a month.

But before the Proteas think about joining the Springboks in a remarkable double, they will have to put an end to an unwanted treble when they face Australia in Kolkata.

South Africa have never reached the Cricket World Cup final and have lost three semi-finals to the Baggy Greens.

The most bizarre defeat was in 1999 with the two sides tied on 213 runs after Lance Klusener crashed two glorious shots through the covers to the Edgbaston boundary, leaving the Proteas needing just one run from four balls with a wicket remaining.

Allan Donald, one of the greatest bowlers of all time, with 602 wickets for his country, was at the other end and the very next delivery he set off for a run he was never going to make and was fortunate Darren Lehmann missed the stumps.

The following ball Klusener set off for the winning run only for Donald to freeze. When he did start to head towards the other end he dropped his bat, was run out and it was game over. Australia advanced to the final thanks to their superior run rate in the super-six stage.

There were two subsequent painful defeats to the Baggy Greens but none hurt as much as that dark day in Birmingham.

South Africa will be relieved that, should there be a tie at the end of this match, there will be a Super Over shootout which will be repeated if necessary until one team emerges triumphant.

They will also be encouraged that they’ve won seven of the last nine one-day internationals with Australia, including the last four, and their meeting in the group stage ended with a convincing victory by 134 runs.

In fact, all four recent wins came with the Proteas batting first and their chances this time around will be boosted if they win the toss and make Australia bowl.

Teams batting first have won seven of the last 11 matches at Eden Gardens so it could pay to wait and see what the team winning the toss decides to do with South Africa 6/5 to prevail with SpreadEx and Australia 3/4 to emerge triumphant with Paddy Power.

Aiden Markram is 11/2 with the same firm and Betfair to be the Proteas top batter and Marnus Labuschagne is 7/1 with the two bookies to be Australia’s top scorer.

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David Beckham was the star of the show as he made a shock appearance in front of over 30,000 cricket obsessed fans to witness India’s attempts to reach the Cricket World Cup final.

A raucous crowd packed into the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, with the overwhelming majority of fans hoping to see Rohit Sharma’s side avenge their semi-final defeat against New Zealand four years ago.

The Manchester United legend is not known to be a cricket aficionado but was keen to sample the atmosphere while he is visiting India.

Beckham is on a three-day trip as the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. UNICEF and the International Cricket Council (ICC) had joined forcess to promote gender inclusion and women’s empowerment through cricket.

Beckham posed for several photos with the stars of the home team, including Virat Kohli, and also posed for an iconic photo with India cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar.

The build-up to the match was largely overshadowed by a row over the pitch. The game was ultimately played on a used surface after a change by local officials.

Pitches are selected and prepared by the local groundstaff and authority with oversight from the International Cricket Council’s pitch consultant, but a used surface was always likely to heavily favour the home side.

Speaking ahead of the toss, India skipper Rohit Sharma, who chose to bat said: ‘It looks like a good pitch, on the slower side as well but whatever we do, we know we’ve got to do that well.

‘It was way back in 2019 that we played that semi-final, New Zealand have been one of the most consistent team over the years and it’s going to be a good contest.

‘It’s a very important day. I’ve been constantly talking about how important it is to turn up on the day and forget what has happened in the past.

‘We have to control the controllables.’

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Modern players may prioritise white-ball cricket these days but not the administrators. At least that is the excuse from Rob Key, managing director of the England men’s team, who said his own focus on the Test side was partially to blame for the shabby showing at the World Cup.

Along with the whipped drive through mid-wicket, Key is blessed with the gift of the gab, though some of his reasons for England’s poor results have stretched credulity, especially the one which claimed the team ‘lacked local knowledge’.

Really? Plenty of England’s World Cup squad play in the Indian Premier League, including the captain Jos Buttler, while many of the team’s data analysts also work for IPL franchises. If they don’t know that dew descends in Mumbai most evenings or that it is roasting hot there at 2pm in mid-October, so bat first, they really should have their wages docked.

England did poorly because they play a high-risk game which requires delusional levels of self-confidence, particularly among the batters.

Once half of that equation equivocates the other bit tailspins which is why you need to manage games in places like India where conditions, and players’ confidence, are rarely at their peak.

By admitting his own culpability due to his focus on Tests, Key seems to be trying to draw criticism away from Buttler and Matthew Mott, the limited-overs captain and coach. Will it work?

Key knows he has credit in the bank after England’s renaissance in the Test arena, though how much Buttler and Mott have after the meltdown in India is debatable. Both seemed lightweight and unable to draw a response from the team when most needed.

Ever bullish, Key (pictured) seems confident the pair can return England’s 50-over team to winning ways as they take a more youthful squad to the West Indies for a series of one-day and T20 matches next month.

Given the West Indies failed to qualify for the World Cup, England should win comfortably. Yet, the Caribbean was where things came to a head for the Test team 18 months ago resulting in both captain and coach being replaced and triumphant Bazball forged in its wake. Omens. Omens.

India on the fast track to success at home but Mumbai toss may be crucial

India have yet to be tested at this World Cup which has made their supporters nervous. Easy wins breed complacency and while Rohit Sharma, the captain, will have tried everything to guard against the dreaded C-word for their semi-final, it can be difficult to instil hunger and desire into players who’ve yet to dig deep for their treasure.

Only New Zealand, Wednesday’s opponents at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, ran India close in the group stage. Otherwise, it has been a victory stroll of huge margins for the hosts against everyone including the other semi-finalists, Australia and South Africa, who meet tomorrow in Kolkata.

India won the World Cup at home in 2011 and should win again this time given their form and firepower. The bowling in particular, always well suited to the conditions in terms of spin, has moved to another level of excellence with their pace. Once the weaker suit, they are now the power in 
the attack.

Not that the spinners, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav, are pushovers, far from it. But it is Jasprit Bumrah (right), Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami who have done most damage with their pace and skill set. Put plainly, India’s bowlers offer the greatest challenge in the tournament and one that has yet to be countered.

Jadeja apart, India are a team of specialists rather than all-rounders, the captain trusting each to do their job (there are no back-up bowlers). While England, at least at the outset, tried to approach the World Cup matches as a T20 game x 2.5, India have opted for the verities of longer form cricket like bowling a hard length and batting with intent without tipping over into recklessness. Virat Kohli’s second flowering, with scarcely a funky shot in sight, has been a wonder to behold.

Yet amid this seeming perfection lies New Zealand’s opportunity. Having reached the knockout stage, India will not want to overdo the risk now, though one consequence of that is they could overdo the conservatism. That’s what happened against England in the semi-final of the World T20 a year ago. They eased to 168 for six, expecting the pressure of the occasion to shake their opponents, who promptly chased down the total without losing a wicket.

New Zealand are the great pragmatists as well as upsetters of form. They know they are probably fortunate to be in the semi-final after losing four of their nine group games, though two of the defeats could have easily gone the other way.

They will have noticed, judging from the scores at Wankhede so far, that batting first in Mumbai is advantageous – the average total being 357 as compared to 188 batting second.

That is a huge disparity which many reckon is due to the new ball (and remember there is one at each end) swinging more and for longer under floodlights. Both teams have bowlers able to harness that swing which makes the toss more important than it ought to be in a 50-over game.

Meanwhile, the second semi-final has all the potential to be a high-scoring classic providing South Africa don’t succumb to the semi-final shakes, a vulnerability in previous ICC tournaments. In 31 years they have made just one final, the inaugural Champions Trophy back in 1998. To have any chance of reaching this one, Temba Bavuma’s team must blot out the inevitable chatter about South Africa being serial chokers.

By contrast, Australia will try to summon once more the swashbuckling form sparked by Glenn Maxwell’s extraordinary 201 off 128 balls against Afghanistan, much of it played with cramping legs (injured players can’t have a runner any more). Off the scale though thatknock was, South Africa won’t gift Maxwell the three lives Afghanistan handed him after dropping him twice.

This is definitely the more macho of the semi-finals, with the batsmen of both sides threatening fireworks and you can almost smell the cordite.

As for Sunday’s final in Ahmedabad’s vast Narendra Modi stadium – expect a world-record crowd with noise levels to match if India are there but a much quieter affair if they are not.

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India can put one of their darkest days behind them in the sunshine in Mumbai by beating New Zealand to reach Sunday’s Cricket World Cup final.

Revenge is bound to add motivation to their cause as four years ago they were beaten by the Black Caps in a nailbiting finish at Old Trafford.

Being staged in Manchester, the 2019 semi-final was, of course, delayed by rain and play had to be carried over to a reserve day.

New Zealand made 239 for eight off their 50 overs and although that seemed as though it would be a relatively easy target, India were soon in trouble as they lost their first three wickets with just five runs on the board.

They remained on the ropes as they stumbled to 92 for six but brilliant batting from MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja forced them back into contention and they needed just 37 runs off the last 18 deliveries to gain an improbable and heroic victory.

It wasn’t to be as Jadeja fell for 77 off 59 balls and, with 25 runs needed off 11 deliveries, Dhoni was run out by inches by a direct hit on the stumps from Martin Guptil’s pinpoint throw as he chased a second run to keep the strike.

It was the second successive tournament India had been eliminated at the semi-final stage and now they are back in the last four and hoping to reach the final for the first time since beating Sri Lanka by six wickets in the 2011 final.

That was also on home soil and it was in front of a passionate crowd at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium where they will be seeking victory this time around.

As for New Zealand, they suffered their own 2019 heartache in the memorable Lord’s decider when they were eclipsed by England on the boundary countback rule after the match and a super over failed to split the two teams.

India have won all nine matches in the group stage in this tournament while New Zealand were beaten four times and the hosts are no better than 4/11 with Paddy Power and Sky Bet to reach the final.

Back them instead to lift the trophy at 10/11 across the board and take your pick on Virat Kohli being top India batter in the semi-final at 11/4 with William Hill, top runscorer in the match at 5/1 with Sky Bet and man of the match at 7/1 with the latter firm.

Devon Conway is 7/2 with William Hill to be New Zealand’s top batter.

• Viktor Hovland is 6/1 with Sky Bet to win the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. Back Poland’s Adrian Meronk each-way at 22/1 with Coral. Tommy Fleetwood can be supported each-way at 18/1 with Paddy Power to top the leaderboard after the first round. 

• Chris Dobey is 4/5 with William Hill to beat James Wade in Wednesday’s showdown at the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton.

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