Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Kane Willamson, Tim Southee, and Trent Boult are all set to feature in a clash in the World Cup, just the same way it happened in Malaysia on February 27, 2008, in the semi-final of the 7th edition of the Under 19 World Cup. 2019's table toppers, India, is all set to face New Zealand, the fourth-placed team which has come to this juncture after succumbing into three straight defeats to conclude the round robin phase.

The whole of India's top order, including Dhawan's replacement Rishabh Pant, look well set and scoring freely. Rohit Sharma has had his own dream run featuring 5 centuries and a fifty in an overall record of 647 runs. Only Matthew Hayden (659) and Sachin Tendulkar (673) are ahead of him with most runs in a single edition of the ICC Cricket World Cups. Both of them reached those numbers by playing 11 matches including the respective finals of the 2007 and 2003 editions.

For the Kiwis, the opening batsmen have performed underwhelmingly to an unexpected extent, and the batting completely revolves around Williamson and Taylor. It's highly likely that India may make use of the either Kuldeep and/or Chahal or even Kedhar Jadhav, as the trio has accounted for Willamson twice, each at less than a run a ball.

Bhuvaneshwar's midway injury hampered India's batting depth. The uncertain middle order and a very long tail were troublesome. Therefore the extra batting option of Jadeja was added, which meant India would play only 5 bowlers. An extended net session of Dinesh Karthik indicates he could come in at 7 and the wristies could be brought together considering their success in New Zealand earlier this year.

The Kiwis could make Tom Latham bat at the top and put Henry Nicholas in the middle order, just as Nicholas himself prefers. Lockie Ferguson was rested for the match against England as a precautionary measure due to the tightness in his hamstring.

Probable XIs

India

Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja/Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar/Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah

Martin Guptill, Henry Nicholls/Colin Munro, Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wk), James Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult

Pitch and conditions

It is a partly cloudy day in Manchester with a very slight chance of rain. In the unlikely event of weather forcing no result tomorrow, the game will recommence the following day (reserve day) from where it was stopped. The result of the toss, too, will be taken forward even if not a single ball is bowled on the scheduled day. Old Trafford has hosted five matches in the league stages, with four of them seeing scores in excess of 290.

Trivia

- New Zealand has won just one of their seven World Cup semifinals. India has a slightly better 3-3 record from their six trips to the final four.

- Since the last World Cup, Rohit Sharma has batted at a PowerPlay strike-rate of 74.04. Post Shikhar Dhawan's injury in this edition, he's upped his scoring to 95.77.

- Trent Boult has taken more wickets against India in ODIs than any other bowler since the last World Cup: 22 wickets from 12 games at 24.9.