India thrash the Netherlands to complete flawless World Cup group stage

India completed a flawless World Cup group stage by hammering the Netherlands by 160 runs in Bengaluru.

The hosts made it nine wins out of nine games after posting a huge 50-over total of 410 for four, just three runs shy of their World Cup best against Bermuda in 2007.

Shreyas Iyer top-scored with an unbeaten 128 from 94 balls and KL Rahul completed his century in the final over before being dismissed for 102.

Rahul reached his hundred in 62 balls – the fastest by an Indian batter at a World Cup – and his fourth-wicket partnership of 208 with Iyer took the game away from the Dutch.

Rohit Sharma (61), Shubman Gill (51) and Virat Kohli (51) also went past fifty as India claimed another World Cup record.

It was the first time the top five of any team have all got half-centuries in the same innings in the competition – and only the third time in the history of ODI cricket.

Kohli appeared well set to break the record of 49 ODI hundreds that he shares with countryman Sachin Tendulkar.

But Kohli missed a straight delivery from spinner Roelof van der Merwe and had to content himself with overtaking South Africa’s Quinton de Kock as the tournament’s leading run-scorer.

India were always in control on a flat wicket and the Netherlands were eventually dismissed for 250 from 47.5 overs.

Teja Nidamanuru (54) and Sybrand Engelbrecht (45) offered resistance as Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja took two wickets apiece.

India head into Wednesday’s semi-final against New Zealand with confidence on the back of their best run of results in World Cup cricket, while the Netherlands finished bottom of the 10 teams after two wins from nine matches.

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