India, New Zealand meet in 1st World Cup semifinal

Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The first Cricket World Cup semifinal takes place at Old Trafford, where India is the favorite against New Zealand.

The toss could be all important on Tuesday, with the team batting first winning all five matches in Manchester this tournament. Four of those winning teams won the toss — in the other match, India won after being sent into bat by Pakistan.

New Zealand comes into the match having lost three straight to finish the group stage. Paceman Lockie Ferguson, the team's leading wicket-taker this World Cup with 17, should return from a hamstring problem.

India topped the group-stage standings with seven wins from eight completed matches and has the tournament's leading run-scorer in opener Rohit Sharma (647), including five centuries.

Australia and England meet in the second semifinal match at Edgbaston on Thursday.

___

More AP cricket: www.apnews.com/Cricket and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports