T20 World Cup: From defeating Pakistan to becoming table-toppers, Recap of India's journey to semis
After finishing as the table-toppers of Group 2, India are set to lock horns with England in the semifinals on Thursday. Both the teams will eye to seal a spot in the final in the thrilling knock-out stage.
In the opening match of the T20 World Cup, the men in blue defeated Pakistan by four wickets.
Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl first. Bhuvneshwar started on a high note giving just one run in the first over. In the next over, Arshdeep Singh took a crucial wicket on his first delivery at the mega event. He dismissed Pakistan skipper Babar Azam on a Golden duck. Arshdeep further dismissed Mohammad Rizwan. Team Pakistan's wickets kept falling but Iftikhar Ahmed and Shan Masood smashed half-century each to register a target of 160 runs.
India lost early wicket as openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma went back to hut. India lost three wickets in powerplay after their star batter Suryakumar Yadav got dismissed. Axar Patel got dismissed through run-out and disappointment spread amongst the fan. However, Hardik Pandya and Virat Kohli stabilized India's innings. Virat Kohli smashed half-century and guided India to win with his amazing batting.
"It's a surreal atmosphere, I have no words, no idea how that happened. I am really lost for words. Hardik believed we can do it, if we stayed till the end. When Shaheen bowled from the pavilion end, that's when we decided to take him down.Till today Mohali was my best innings against Australia. Today I will count this one higher," Man of the match Kohli said.
India dominated The Netherlands left, right and cente to win their second consecutive game by 56 runs.
Team India won the toss and opted to bat first. Suryakumar Yadav once again provided the final flourish with a breathtaking 51 off only 25 balls as he overshadowed senior pros Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in India’s 179/2 against their opponents.
The Indian batting save all but one fired in unison as skipper Rohit (53 off 39 balls) became the pacesetter while the team’s No.1 batter Kohli played the role of an anchor to perfection with a top score of 62 not out off 44 balls.India were 67/1 at the halfway stage but once Surya came in, the ‘Orange’ bowling unit did look intimidated and once Kohli started putting pressure there was literally no escape.
Chasing 180, the Netherlands got off to a pretty shaky start as they could manage just 27 runs in the first six overs at the loss of 2 wickets. Bhuvneshwar, Ashwin, Arshdeep, and Axar scalped two wickets each. The fact that 20 runs made by Tim Pringle were the highest by a Netherlands batter goes on to speak volumes of how their batting fared.
"I was just trying to express myself when I went in to bat. The situation was very simple, I just had to up the tempo at that time. I took one ball today (to get going), but the message was loud and clear. We had to get about 8-10 an over and get a total which our bowlers could defend easily," player of the match Suryakumar said.
Team India was enjoying a dominant run so far. But the tables turned against South Africa, when they lost by five wickets.
Skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat first. It was an extremely brave decision considering that South Africa have lethal pacers at their disposal. India opener KL Rahul looked in all sorts of trouble as he faced Kagiso Rabada in the very first over. Rabada didn't concede any runs that put Rohit under pressure. Once Rahul was dismissed, it triggered a collapse and the Indian top order was bundled out under 50. Wickets kept on falling at the other end but Suryakumar Yadav held his nerves at played a gritty innings of 68 off 40 deliveries.Suryakumar Yadav's efforts that helped India reach a respectable total of 133 at the end of 20 overs.
However, Aiden Markram 52 (41) and David Miller 59 (46) , who was unbeaten troubled the Indian bowlers and powered the Proteas to victory with two balls to spare.
Player of the match, Lungi Ngidi said, "This is one of my biggest dreams, to get something like this (award) at the World Cup and help the country win a game, will cherish it for a long time. It comes with watching a lot of games being played here, fortunately I have played here as well and had that information."
In a rain-affected match that had its share of thrills, India beat Bangladesh by 5 runs.
Shakib won the toss and put India to bat first. Batting first, India, led by KL Rahul and Virat Kohli, put 184 on board. Rahul returned to form with a good-looking fifty, while Kohli continued to put in the good work, smashing another half-century.
Chasing 185, Bangladesh got off to a solid start, with Litton Das racing away to 50 off just 21 balls before rain played spoilsport. The break worked in India's favour as the revised target of 151 in 16 overs put Bangla batters off track, and India eventually won the game.
Player of the match, Virat Kohli: Pretty close game. Not as close as we would have liked it to be. A good day with the bat. When I went in there was a bit of pressure. I didn't want little mistakes to curb my instincts. I am in a happy place. I don't want to compare it with the past.
India routed Zimbabwe to win the game by 71 runs in their last match of the Super 12 stage.
It was outright domination from Rohit's men as they first set up a huge total of 186, and then bowled Zimbabwe out for just 115.
KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav were the stars with the bat as they notched up their respective fifties.
Zimbabwe’s batting depth was never enough to surpass that score and they were shot out for 115 in 17. 2 overs with Ravichandran Ashwin (3/22) enjoying a good day at the office. Save Axar Patel (0/36 in 3 overs), all the other Indian bowlers were on target and among wickets in one of the most lopsided games of this global event. Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Shami took two wickets apiece while Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar shared a wicket each.
Suryakumar yadav, Player of the match said: "I do the same thing in the nets, I practice the same shots. I bat according to the situation and what the team needs. It feels really good, to be there (number 1 ranked T20I batter). You got to start from zero everytime, that's what I think. It's good to see people come out, let's see how it goes in the next game."
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