And what can one say about India? The whole league stage has been a breeze for them. 9 games, 9 wins, 9 dominant performances. Today is Diwali day but these boys in blue have been giving the nation presents since the World Cup started. The whole tournament has been like a dream, but New Zealand on Wednesday will try to turn that into a nightmare. Will India continue to cruise through or will ‘30 minutes of bad cricket’ come back to haunt them? Plenty to look forward to, for now this is Saurabh Shankar signing off on behalf of Abhinand Raghavendran, Nikhil Jadhav, Kumar Abhisekh Das and Venky. Stay well, stay safe and goodnight!

So that’s the end of the group stages. Netherlands finish bottom of the table but that doesn’t tell their whole story. Nobody gave them a prayer to even qualify for this WC, they came to India without much practice, seeking for net bowlers from the Indian domestic circuit. They would have hardly played in such conditions, and not many expected much from them. But these bunch of fighters upset the apple cart by beating South Africa and Bangladesh. At one stage, they were genuinely dreaming of the semis as well. So the Dutch can fly back home with their heads held high. Hopefully, a country that has idolized Arjen Robben and Virgil van Dijk can look towards Scott Edwards or Bas de Leede too in the years to come.

Rohit Sharma: Since we started the tournament, for us, it was all about thinking about one game at a time. We never wanted to look too far ahead because it's a long tournament. It was important to focus on one game. Different venues and we had to adapt, that's exactly what we did. Very pleased with how we have played in these nine games. Very clinical from game one till today. That's because different individuals have stepped up at different times. That's a good sign for the team. We know the conditions, but when you play different opponents, that's a different challenge. We adapted really well., We started four games in a row and then we had to bat first, seamers did the rest along with the spinners. It's important, results do matter to keep the dressing room environment lively. There's going to be a lot of expectations, we wanted to keep everything aside and focus on the job at hand. We wanted to play the game on the field with a lot of fun and that reflected on our performances. Today we had nine (bowling) options, it's important, this is the game where we could have tried. Seamers bowling those wide yorkers when not needed, but we wanted to do something different.

Scott Edwards: We played two good games of cricket, gave ourselves opportunities in other games which we'd have liked to win. Little bit tricky to say where we were compared to where we wanted to be. We were pretty confident with the style we play. We knew it's going to be a tough tournament. We've got a lot to learn, lot to get better before the T20 tournament next year. They showed pure class with the bat. There were periods where we bowled well, they just soaked up the pressure. They are going to be an extremely hard side to beat in this World Cup. We are a very young side, lot of young guys in the set-up, it is about growth for us. In terms of fixtures, not sure.

Stats by Shashikant Singh:

Most ODI sixes by a team in a Calendar year:
215 - India (2023)
209 - West Indies (2019)
203 - South Africa (2023)
179 - New Zealand (2015)
165 - Australia in (2023)

Most bowlers used in an ODI World Cup innings:
9 - England vs Sri Lanka, Peshawar, 1987
9 - New Zealand vs Pakistan, Christchurch, 1992
9 - India vs Netherlands, Bengaluru, 2023*

Most wickets by an Indian spinner in a single WC edition:
16 - Ravindra Jadeja (2023)*
15 - Anil Kumble (1996)
15 - Yuvraj Singh (2011)
14 - Kuldeep Yadav (2023)
14 - Maninder Singh (1987)

Most sixes by Netherlands in an ODI innings:
10 vs AFG, Sharjah, 2022
9 vs OMAN, Harare, 2023
9 vs IND, Bengaluru, today*

Most consecutive wins in a single WC edition:
11 - Australia in 2003 
11 - Australia in 2003 
9 - India in 2023*
8 - India in 2003 
8 - New Zealand in 2015

Most ODI wins for India in a calendar year:
24 wins in 2023*
24 wins in 1998
22 wins in 2013

Shreyas Iyer, Player of the Match: I got a deja vu, this happened with Australia too, but I threw my wicket away (not today though). I took pills for the cramps. I feel the recent scores helped me in this innings. The wicket was tacky and two-paced, I just wanted to capitalize on the start I was able to do that. I have worked a lot on that (straight) shot, I was just trying to hit it straight. It's about the followthrough of the bat once I am trying to play the slog shot.

21:31 Local Time, 16:01 GMT, 21:31 IST: Amidst all the festivities and this game feeling like an exhibition match, it might be easy to forget that this was actually the final league game of a World Cup. The result was never in doubt after the first innings, which saw the top five of India all notch up centuries. Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul managed to convert those into tons, as India set an unrealistic target of 411. In reply, the bowlers faced a sterner test as the pacers weren’t able to bamboozle the Dutch like we’ve come to almost expect. Barresi fell early, but Max ODowd and Ackermann stitched together a partnership. It needed Kuldeep Yadav to break things up, and then Jadeja struck from the other end. Then the game meandered into boring middle overs territory, and skipper Rohit Sharma decided to use his wrong footed inswinging menace to entertain the crowds. Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill and SKY chanced their arm, and Kohli managed to get a wicket as well, to send the crowd into delirium. Then, Siraj, Shami, Bumrah and Kuldeep returned to add to their wickets tally.

Rohit to Nidamanuru, out Caught by Shami!! Nidamanuru c Shami b Rohit 54(39) [4s-1 6s-6]

Rohit to Nidamanuru, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Rohit to Nidamanuru, SIX, flat delivery on middle from round the wicket. Nidamanuru rocks back and hoists it over deep mid-wicket for a six.

Rohit to Nidamanuru, no run, floated up outside off, Nidamanuru attempts a reverse but can't connect

Rohit to van Meekeren, 1 run, gets some turn from outside off, cut towards deep backward point

Rohit to van Meekeren, no run, loopy delivery that comes in with the angle towards middle. Blocked

Rohit Sharma, right-arm off break, comes into the attack