India celebrates Diwali with nine out of nine wins

• Meets New Zealand in first semi-final on Wednesday

The Indian juggernaut continued relentlessly in the final match of the Cricket World Cup league phase recording a comprehensive 160-run win over Netherlands to end with a 100% record of nine wins out of nine at the M. Chinnnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday and celebrate Diwali day in style. 

By finishing on top of the standings, India will take on fourth placed New Zealand in the first semi-final to be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on 15 November. The second semi-final will be between second and third placed teams South Africa and Australia at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on 16 November. The final is scheduled at Ahmedabad on 19 November.

It was always going to be difficult chasing down an imposing total of 410, but the Dutch put up a decent fight to be all out for 250 and even though they finished at the bottom of the table they could still go home with their heads held high. They started the tournament upsetting the apple cart by beating South Africa and Bangladesh and at one stage were genuinely dreaming of the semi-finals.

Netherlands lost Wesley Barresi in the second over, but Max O’Dowd and Colin Ackerman added 61 for the second wicket before Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja got into the act. Teja Nidamanuru put up late resistance denying the inevitable with a 39-ball 55 and hit the most sixes for Netherland – 6, in addition to one four. Virat Kohli and Sharma picked up a wicket each as India used nine bowlers in all, only the third time that nine bowlers were used in an ODI World Cup innings.

India’s top order hit 50s which was then followed by sparkling tons from Shreyas Iyer and Lokesh Rahul as the home side posted a mammoth 410/4 – the third time they have gone past that mark in the ongoing World Cup.

Opting to bat first in their final league game before the semi-final, India put on a show with Rahul in particular breaking the record for the fastest World Cup ton by an Indian batter, getting there in 62 balls, one ball less than Rohit Sharma’s 63-ball hundred against Afghanistan in this tournament.

Skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill wasted no time as they waded into the Dutch attack bringing up India’s 50 in just six overs. Gill struck four sixes and three fours enroute to a 30-ball 50 as the openers put up an opening stand of 100. Gill was caught near the boundary in excellent fashion by Nidamanuru. Sharma brought up his 50 (61 off 54 balls, 8 fours, 2 sixes) and took his tally for the tournament past the 500-run mark before mistiming a pull and getting caught.

Kohli took over the scoring and raced to his seventh 50-plus score 51 off 56 balls (5 fours, 1 six), but like the openers failed to convert the start into a big one when he was cleaned up by Roelof van der Merwe.

From there onwards it was Shreyas Iyer and Lokesh Rahul who dominated proceedings putting together a double century partnership off 127 balls. Iyer, having twice missed out on a century with scores of 77 and 82, finally managed to bring up his first World Cup 100. It was the first time an Indian No.4 had reached three figures in the World Cup since Yuvraj Singh’s ton in Chennai against West Indies in the 2011 edition. Iyer gave van Beek a real hiding in the penultimate over of the innings by hammering him for three sixes as the bowler ended up conceding 25 runs in the over to finish with figures of 0/107. Iyer ended unbeaten on 128 off 94 balls (10 fours, 5 sixes).

With 11 to get in the final over to bring up his century, Rahul brought the crowd to its feet by hammering two sixes of the first two deliveries to break Sharma’s record. India could have also broken the record for their highest total in a World Cup, but Rahul’s dismissal off the penultimate ball (102 off 64 balls, 11 fours, 4 sixes) saw India fall short by three runs.

Scores: India 410-4 (50) (Rohit Sharma 61, Shubman Gill 51, Virat Kohli 51, Shreyas Iyer 128*, Lokesh Rahul 102, Bas de Leede 2/82)

Netherlands 250 (47.5) (Max O’Dowd 30, Colin Ackerman 35, Sybrand Englbrecht 45, Teja Nidamanuru 54, Jasprit Bumrah 2/33, Mohammad Siraj 2/29, Kuldeep Yadav 2/41, Ravindra Jadeja 2/49)