India vs Netherlands, World Cup 2023: 'Diwali Dhamaka', Netizens react to Rohit and Co's dominant victory in Bengaluru

India stormed into the semi-finals of the ICC World Cup with a commanding 160-run victory over the Netherlands in Bengaluru on Sunday.

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Not only are the Rohit Sharma-led side the only remaining side to have not lost a single match so far in the tournament, they’ve also set a new record for most wins in a single edition of a World Cup by registering their ninth win in a row.

Shreyas Iyer (128 not out) and KL Rahul (102) led the way with blazing centuries, the latter smashing the record for the fastest World Cup ton by an Indian as the hosts piled on 410/4 — the second-highest total of the ongoing tournament.

The Dutch ended up faring a lot better than India’s three previous opponents before Sunday’s game, making the most of the batting-friendly conditions on offer at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium along with a few fielding errors from the Indians that included a few missed chances.

Powered by Teja Nidamanuru’s rearguard innings of 54 off 39 deliveries that contained six sixes as well as Sybrand Engelbrecht’s patient 45, Netherlands went as far as 250 before losing their final wicket.

Among the moments that stood out during the Dutch chase was Virat Kohli and Rohit grabbing a wicket each as the Men in Blue made use of a number of part-time bowlers and ended up making use of nine different bowlers.

The victory was largely along expected lines for Team India given the vast gulf between them and the Dutch, the only non-Test-playing nation in this tournament. That didn’t stop fans from gushing over the Indian team’s milestone achievement of nine consecutive wins as well as their middle-order showing its might.

Here are select reactions to the India-Netherlands match on X (formerly Twitter):

Diwali becomes even more special thanks to our cricket team!

Congratulations to Team India on their fantastic victory against the Netherlands! Such an impressive display of skill and teamwork.

Best wishes for the Semis! India is elated.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 12, 2023

Hats off to Team India for hitting it out of the park against the Netherlands giving us all a Diwali dazzler!