IND vs NZ: Match abandoned without a ball bowled

India's Mohammed Shami produced a match-winning display in his first appearance at the 50-overs World Cup and the seamer said he had no issues warming the bench until his recall for Sunday's clash against 2019 runners-up New Zealand.

Shami watched from the sidelines as India won each of their first four matches and the right-arm bowler would have sat out again but for an ankle injury to Hardik Pandya, which forced the team to recall the 33-year-old.

Shami responded by claiming a wicket with his first delivery of the tournament and was on the verge of a hat-trick after dismissing Mitchell Santner and Matt Henry off successive deliveries.

While a second ODI World Cup hat-trick for him did not materialise, Shami's 5-54 helped India to bowl out New Zealand for 273 and set up their four-wicket victory with two overs to spare.

It also earned him the player-of-the-match award.

"Obviously, the start was important and getting a wicket first ball gave me plenty of confidence," Shami said, adding that he had been fine watching Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj share pace-bowling duty with all-rounder Pandya.

"It's not too hard if your team is doing well," said the seamer.

"They are your team mates and if they are doing well then you should be supporting them.

"If it's in the team's interest, I'm okay with it."

Skipper Rohit Sharma was pleased with how Shami made an immediate impact with the ball.

"Shami took his opportunity with both hands," Rohit said.

"He is a class player, with so much experience and I am very happy for him."

India are now the only unbeaten team in the tournament, leading the race for the four semi-final berths, followed by New Zealand, who suffered their first defeat in Dharamsala.

Rohit's team play England in Lucknow next Sunday, a day after New Zealand play Australia in Dharamsala.

New Zealand batsman Daryl Mitchell has rejected criticism of the Black Caps for coming to the aid of India's Virat Kohli during Wednesday's World Cup semi-final loss, saying the team took great pride in the way they went about the game.

Several New Zealanders checked on Kohli and helped him stretch his hamstrings when he went down with cramps while scoring a century to help India romp to a 70-run victory at the Wankhede Stadium and a place in Sunday's final.

Former Australia all-rounder Simon O'Donnell slammed the Black Caps for their lack of competitive instinct but Mitchell, who scored a 119-ball 134 in New Zealand's response, said the approach would not change.

"I think that's something we really pride ourselves on as Black Caps and as New Zealanders. We want to play cricket in a way that suits us as a country and how we want to see our kids grow up and play the game themselves," he told reporters before the team left Mumbai late on Thursday.

"We'll keep playing cricket the way we do as Kiwis and hopefully the rest of the world can respect us and how we go about our day-to-day life, not only on the field but off it as well.

"It's something that we're really proud of, so we'll just keep being Black Caps and doing what we're doing."

New Zealand next travel to Bangladesh for a two-test series starting on Nov. 28 and Mitchell said the disappointment of their semi-final exit at the World Cup would not have any impact on their performance.

"That's the nature of international sport these days," he said. "(After) the T20 World Cup final we played a couple of years ago, we had a T20 in India about 48 hours after that so we're used to it.

"We'll show up, we love test cricket, it means a hell of a lot to this group. We'll be ready to go come the first day of that test and wear that black cap again."

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said his side's experience of playing in front of partisan crowds would serve them well when they face hosts India in a blockbuster World Cup semi-final.

A capacity crowd of over 33,000 is expected at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium -- the home ground of India captain Rohit Sharma -- for Wednesday's clash

New Zealand, losing finalists at the last two World Cups but yet to lift the trophy, knocked India out at the semi-final stage in a rain-affected two-day clash in Manchester four years ago.

Bad weather, however, is unlikely to be an issue in Mumbai and while India had plenty of support at Old Trafford, star batsman Williamson knows that will be as nothing compared to the passionate backing they'll have on Wednesday.

When a reporter told Williamson during a pre-match press conference on Tuesday that the capacity of the Wankhede is 33,108 and "33 of them will be in blue (India's colour)," he jokingly replied: "There'll be more than that."

Williamson, who knows India well from playing in the lucrative Indian Premier League, added: "We're expecting a fairly blue crowd that will be supporting their team.

"We remember over the years, a number of different crowds that we've had that haven't always been your own fans.

"We have got a small country that doesn't always fill out the stadiums but you still appreciate the atmosphere it brings.

"Not many people get that opportunity, cricket in India, playing against India in a World Cup semi-final, is special and something to appreciate and look forward to."

Williamson is particularly glad to be involved after fearing he might not make it to the World Cup before a freak injury threatened to cut short his participation.

After spending nearly seven months out with a serious knee injury, he missed New Zealand's opening wins over champions England and the Netherlands.

He marked his comeback with 78 not out during an eight-wicket victory over Bangladesh in Chennai only to suffer a broken left thumb following a wayward throw while running between the wickets.

The 33-year-old then missed several more games before returning with 95 against Pakistan in Bengaluru.

'Frustrating' 

"An interesting journey for sure," said Williamson.

"From sort of it not being a chance (of playing at the World Cup) to getting close and it becoming a reality and something to target...Then to get back and then break my thumb. It was quite frustrating and testing."

But a 10-team round-robin event gave Williamson hope he could still feature later on in the tournament.

"I still felt it hadn't ruled me out, so I was grateful for that and it's nice to be sitting here."

India defeated New Zealand by four wickets in a hard-fought pool match in Dharamsala last month but Williamson played down the impact of that fixture and the 2019 semi-final ahead of Wednesday's clash.

"They (India) are a side that's been playing extremely well, but we also know come finals time, everything sort of starts again."

Williamson was more forthcoming about New Zealand rising star Rachin Ravindra, with the 23-year-old left-handed opener having already scored three hundreds at his debut World Cup.

"He's burst onto the scene and in a big way," said Williamson.

"It's not just the volume of runs that he's achieved so far, but how he's been scoring them and how it's been geared towards trying to move the team forward."