Virat’s unbeaten 82 helps India beat Australia by 6 wickets
against Australia in Mohali, Punjab on Sunday.
Mohali: Title favourites India tonight stormed into the semifinals of the World T20 cricket tournament with a sensational six-wicket victory over Australia in their final group match, relying on Virat Kohli’s batting heroics here on Sunday.
After restricting Australia to 160 for 6, Kohli (82 not out) provided the spark with a superlative display of batting to help India overhaul the target with five balls to spare in a thrilling showdown at the I S Bindra Stadium.
India turned the game on its head in the last four overs with the flamboyant Kohli unleashing a flurry of shots to take the game away from the Australians much to the delight of the capacity home crowd.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (18 not out) hit the winning runs — a four — to the wild celebration at the Indian camp as well among the vociferous crowd.
India, who finished second in Super 10 Group 2, will take on the West Indies in the second semifinals in Mumbai on March 31. New Zealand take on England in the first semifinals on March 30 in New Delhi.
Let down by a poor start, India were left to get 39 in the last three overs but Kohli got the team home to 162 for four in 19.1 overs. His 82 not out came from 51 balls, studded with nine fours and two sixes.
The 18th over bowled by Faulkner went for 19 runs and that swung the game in the home team’s favour.
The Indians lost openers Shikhar Dhawan (13) and Rohit Sharma (12), who both had not done much in the previous matches, early in the chase.
Dhawan top-edged a rising Hazlewood delivery to short fine-leg before Rohit walked out of the crease to find his stumps disturbed off a slower ball by Shane Watson, leaving India at 37 for two in 5.5 overs.
All hopes were now pinned on premier batsman Kohli, who has made it habit of chasing down targets in testing times.
He started with a delectable flick and a square drive off Hazlewood, raising hopes of another successful chase through him. He stood strong as Suresh Raina (10) succumbed to the short-ball again, bringing in home hero Yuvraj Singh (21) at 49 for three.
The left-hander Yuvraj got the big shot but he was clearly struggling and was caught at extra cover to make way for Dhoni in the middle with the team needing 59 off the last 30 balls.
In the end, it proved to just another day in the office for Kohli and Dhoni.
Earlier, the Indian bowlers led by Hardik Pandya and Ashish Nehra made a remarkable recovery after leaking runs in the initial overs as they restricted Australia to 160 for 6 in the virtual knock-out match.
Australia were cruising at 53 for no loss at the end of the fourth over with Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin conceding 17 and 22 in second and fourth overs respectively but the home bowlers bounced back in the later overs to restrict the Aussies to a competitive total.
For Australia, Aaron Finch (43) and Glenn Maxwell (31) were the main contributors as Australia lost the momentum in the later overs.
Aaron Finch made 43 off 34 balls at the top while Glenn Maxwell scored 31 of 28.
Yuvraj Singh, bowling his first ball of the tournament, induced a faint edge of Smith’s bat as he attempted a hard slash on a flatter one.
India had pulled things back considerably after leaking runs early on. Soon after, it became 100 for four in 13 overs with the fall of Finch. The odd ball keeping low also made life tougher for the batsmen.
It was over to Shane Watson (18 not out) and Maxwell to provide the late flourish. Maxwell did his bit with a breezy knock which included a switch hit that went for six over cover off a full toss from Ravindra Jadeja.
Big hitters are aplenty in the Australian batting line-up and in came James Faulkner (10) to support Watson. But the pitch getting slower and disciplined bowling by the Indians did not allow the powerful pair to free their arms. Nehra once again was the most economical bowler for the home team. The Australians, however, ended the innings in style courtesy Peter Nevill (10 not out), who smashed a six and four in the two balls he faced. (PTI)