niyati goyal:
India beat the Netherlands by 56 runs after putting 179/2 on the board in their T20 World Cup match on Thursday. Opting to bat, India produced a solid batting display with Rohit Sharma (53), Virat Kohli (62 not out) and Suryakumar Yadav (51 not out) — all scoring scintillating fifties. Predictions of India’s masterly domination over an Associate team seemed fanciful when at the end of three overs, only nine runs had been scored and KL Rahul had fallen to a dubious LBW decision which was not reviewed. With Rohit Sharma looking to hit his way out of trouble and Kohli calmly biding his time, at the end of 10 overs India were merely 67/1, a middling start at best, even by the lethargic SCG’s standards.
Rohit fell in the 12th over for a scratchy but eventually satisfying 39-ball 53 (4×4, 3×6). By the end of 15 India had done marginally better to take the score to 114/2, with Kohli on 32 off 30. This was when things changed. At the other end, Suryakumar Yadav, who got his first stint in the middle in Australian conditions in this World Cup, had already signalled his intentions with a 9-ball 17 till that point, using his wrists to flick, his pick-up shot, to dismiss some not-so-bad balls and even unleashing a straightforward classic cover drive.
Kohli hit Fred Klaasen for a six and four for back-to-back fifties, eventually ending on a 44-ball 62 not out (3×4, 2×6). Netherlands bowled two tight overs, the 18th and the 19th, but two sixes in the last over from Surya (51 not out off 25 balls; 7×4, 1×6) took India to a strong 179/2. While Kohli seems hell bent on making this tournament his own, there was also Suryakumar, who has now shown his maverick style cannot be cramped on Australian pitches by lesser attacks. They now go to the top of their group, but this minnow bashing will be quickly forgotten. It’s onward to the biggest remaining challenge, South Africa, who hit 205/5 and beat Bangladesh by 104 runs, lie in wait on a scorcher of a pitch in Perth on Sunday.