Ind v Aus World T20 Review:  Virat Kohli special helps India thump Australia to seal semi-final berth

India sealed its spot in the semi-final of the World T20 after they beat Australia quite convincingly by 6 wickets. Both teams locked horns at the IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali with an aim of grabbing the only semi-final spot lying vacant in the marquee T20 event.

The Aussies posted a challenging target of 161 runs for India to chase for a place in the knockouts. Indians started off a bit shakily but Virat Kohli outshined everyone and emerged as the hero. The Delhi dasher smashed a 51 ball 81 runs knock to spearhead the chasing efforts.

Steven Smith won the toss and opted to bat first indicating about the slow, turning pitch. The Australians started out with a bang as Usman Khawaja and Aaron Finch began to take on the Indian bowlers. Khawaja, especially looked lethal and launched an attack, smacking both Ashish Nehra and Jasprit Bumrah.

MS Dhoni brought in Ashwin to take things under control but he too was not spared. The off-spinner was welcomed by Finch with two boundaries in the long one region. But, the old horse Nehra then made a comeback and took revenge for the mistreatment, striking in 4th over with the wicket of Usman Khawaja.

From this point, spinners slowly brought India back in the game. Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuvraj Singh snapped up quick wickets of David Warner and Steven Smith respectively to apply brakes on the free flowing runs.

The Aussies had the power hitters in their line-up but could not create any huge impact in today’s game. Glenn Maxwell began sloppily and was cleaned up by Bumrah just when he was settling down. Shane Watson (18* from 16) and James Faulkner (10 from 10 balls) made handy contributions. Peter Nevill hit a four and six off Pandya’s last over to take the team total to a decent 160/6 after 20 overs.

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan began positively and it looked that both the batsmen, who were struggling in recent games, have struck form. But the openers disappointed yet again as both lost their wickets before the end of the powerplay. Suresh Raina also got a start but went back to the pavilion in the 8th over. The Indians were 50/3 after 8 over, which was not a good position to be in while chasing a tricky target on a slow wicket.

Raina’s departure saw Yuvraj Singh come in and he along with the in-form Virat Kohli then steadily brought runs. The required run rate, however, was still around 10 runs an over and the boundaries were drying up with both looking satisfied with singles and doubles. Both stitched a 43 runs stand before Yuvi was brilliantly caught by Shane Watson off Faulkner’s bowling in the 14th over. The run rate had crept up to 11.16 at the time the left-hander departed.

But, the Indian fans had nothing to worry as MS Dhoni joined Kohli in the middle. Both batted incredibly and began to accelerate the chase.

The turning point of the match perhaps came in the 17th by James Faulkner. Virat Kohli pummeled two fours, one six off the first three balls and then added a double and single, handing over the strike to Dhoni who stoles another quick double. Both appeared lightning quick between the wickets, making the Australians look lethargic in the field. It was mind-boggling. 19 runs came from the over which reduced the equation to 20 runs from 12 balls.

Kohli further narrowed the victory margin after he whacked four consecutive boundaries in the penultimate over by Nathan Coulter-Nile. The game was as good as over Australia now with only four required off the last over. MS Dhoni was the man on strike and like most of the times, the Indian skipper hit the ball to boundary fence for the winning runs and seal the victory with 6 wicket and five balls to spare.

Brief Scores:

Australia: 160/6 in 20 overs (Aaron Finch 43; Hardik Pandya 2/36)

India: 161/4 in 19.1 (Virat Kohli 82; Shane Watson 2/23)

Man of the Match: Virat Kohli