Cricket World Cup talking points ahead of India-New Zealand and Australia-South Africa semifinals

A look at the storylines dominating the Cricket World Cup as the tournament reaches the semifinal stage with host nation India playing New Zealand on Wednesday and South Africa taking on Australia on Thursday:

MESSI OF CRICKET

Virat Kohli would be regarded by many as the Lionel Messi of cricket. The India superstar, who was kicking around a soccer ball in practice on Tuesday, is pushing his country toward another World Cup title just like the Argentina great did in Qatar around this time last year. The 35-year-old Kohli is in the midst of his greatest World Cup campaign, hitting a group stage-high 594 runs. His masterpiece could yet include scoring a 50th ODI century, which in this format would break the record he currently shares with another India great, Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli needs 120 more runs to go second in the list of all-time run-scorers in World Cup, past former Australia captain Ricky Ponting and behind only Tendulkar. Kohli's face is everywhere in India — he is among the most pressurized sports stars in the world — but, no longer captain, he is thriving under the responsibility of driving his team to a third title, after 1983 and 2011 (his first).

REDEMPTION STORY

New Zealand’s cricketers are a popular, always-smiling bunch who often can be misunderstood. There is a fierce determination behind that happy-go-lucky veneer, especially after what happened to them at the World Cup four years ago. In the 2019 final, the Black Caps lost to England in an epic match at Lord’s, the home of cricket, that was settled by the unfamiliar boundary countback rule after a rare Super Over — or extra time if it was soccer. The sport’s good guys were, as ever, gracious in defeat even though they were hurting badly inside. There would be no better story than the New Zealanders gaining redemption and they have their chance. As fate would have it, like in 2019 they play India in the semifinals. On that occasion in Manchester, New Zealand managed to successfully defend a first-innings total of 239 as India fell 18 runs short. The Black Caps went on to lose in the final for second straight World Cup. They’ve never won a World Cup despite reaching at least the semifinals the last four times in the 50-over version and the last three times in the Twenty20 format.

CHOKERS TAG

Cricket World Cup. The semifinals. Australia. They are words to send chills through all followers of the South African team. Sure, it was 24 years ago and these are two very different sides but memories of the epic 1999 semifinal match between the two countries in Birmingham, England, have come flooding back. Needing just one run off the final four balls of the match, South Africa's last-wicket pairing of Lance Klusener and Allan Donald lost their heads. Off the first of those balls, Donald almost got himself run out as he wandered out of his crease at the non-striker's end. Then, off the next ball, Klusener hit an ugly shot past the bowler, Damien Fleming, and went for a single despite the ball going straight to a fielder. Donald, perhaps spooked by what had happened 30 seconds earlier, didn't reciprocate, somehow dropped his bat, then belatedly began running toward the other end even though Australia had already whipped off the bails and advanced by virtue of a tie. The South Africans already had a reputation of being chokers. This only enhanced it. They've lost all four of their World Cup semifinal matches, with all of the eliminations having an element of chaos about them. Can it be fifth time lucky?

WARNER FAREWELL

Australia opener David Warner, through his excellence with the bat and his part in some high-profile cricketing controversies, is one of the most well-known figures in the sport and is in the middle of a long goodbye to cricket. His plan is to play this World Cup to finish his 50-over career, play his hometown test match in Sydney against Pakistan in January to conclude his career in the longest format, and then quit the sport for good after the Twenty20 World Cup to be held jointly by the United States and the West Indies in June next year. The 37-year-old Warner's ODI farewell is going well, having hit 499 runs at this World Cup — fifth of all players so far — including back-to-back innings of 163 and 104. He may be well past his best at test cricket but he is still a force in the shorter formats, knowing how to pace his innings and get on top of bowlers. Warner is bidding to become a world champion for the second time in the 50-over format.

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