Take a bow young man! You genius! Brilliant innings from Virat Kohli (82 of 52 balls) helps India to reach the semi-finals of ICC WT20 2016.
Just when everyone thought that this will be the last match of India in WT20 2016, Virat Kohli had a different story to tell and when his bat started talking it was Australia who was quite.
Australia had won the toss and they decided to bat first. It was a do or die match for both the teams and thus giving 120% was on the charts. The kangaroos started the game exactly the way they had planned. Australia were 64-1 at the end of 7 overs and India was straightaway under pressure. But in the later overs, India did turn the game as it became really hard for the Aussies to score boundaries and they were 114-4 at the end of 15 overs. It was now important for Australia to start talking in boundaries and try getting at least 160 from the remaining 5 overs. And what you can say, Maxwell and Watson did hit some beautiful shots at the end, thus helping the kangaroos to reach 160-6 from their 20 overs. Australia was clearly disappointed as with the kind of start they had it was certain that they will reach 180. But 160 was still a competitive score and the kangaroos were confident to fight back.
India had a decent start as well. India’s chase was motoring along satisfactorily before Yuvraj Singh’s injury applied the brakes on it. It was very frustrating for Kohli as converting the 1’s into 2’s and the 2’s into 3’s was now difficult. The asking rate was now over 10 and the match was slowly going towards Australia’s side. But all that mattered for little when Kohli and Dhoni joined hands. Masterclass running between the wickets and beautifully timed shots and the match gradually shifting towards India’s side. What more can you ask for! Australia’s best bowler James Faulkner was smashed for 19 runs in the 18th over and India now required just 20 runs from the last two. But Virat Kohli was in a hurry and he had no mercy on Coulter-Nile smashing 16 runs and India was just a boundary away to seal their spot in the semi-finals. 4 runs just required from the last over and Dhoni had decided to finish this in style. 1st ball of the 20th over and the world’s best finisher secures India’s place in the semis with a boundary.
India will now take on the mighty West Indians in the second semi-finals on 31st March 2016 at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.
(Image source= Cricbuzz.com)
