Twitter Reactions: Virat Kohli's mesmerising 77* takes India to 156 in 3rd T20I against England

Again a classical Virat Kohli knock! The first innings of the third T20 International of the five-match series between India and England at the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad didn’t have a good start for the hosts as they failed to produce results after England threatened to blow them away with pace up front.

However, the Men in Blue managed to have the last laugh in their batting innings courtesy Indian skipper and batting maestro Virat Kohli. Going into the game, Eoin Morgan won the toss and invited Virat Kohli & Co. to bat first. India didn’t get off to a good start as the new opening pair of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul flattened on the pitch and both lost their wickets to right-arm quick Mark Wood.

While Rahul’s lean patch continued as he scored a four-ball duck, Rohit also had to go back to the pavilion after adding 15 runs to the scoreboard. The ‘Man of the Match’ of the last game, Ishan Kishan, didn’t have a good outing as he could score just 4 runs after facing 9 deliveries. The Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who walked out to bat at number 4, had a slow start to his innings as he was looking to continue his good form from the second T20 International. 

Virat Kohli takes control of the innings

He along with Rishabh Pant stitched a crucial 40-run partnership with the latter adding 25 runs but a misjudgment by Kohli resulted in Pant falling off to a drastic run-out. This was followed by India losing Shreyas Iyer too and reeling at a score of 86 for 5 in 14.3 overs.

Thus far, Kohli remained a constant on one end but had a poor strike-rate as in the first 25 balls he could manage just 24 runs. However, from the 15th over there was carnage in the middle as Virat went berserk over the England bowlers. The batting maestro single-handedly helped India in making a comeback as in the next 21 balls he scored a whopping 53 runs. He played some of the majestic shots which confirmed that he was back at his best.

In the end, it was his knock that helped India to post a competitive total of 156 on the board with Virat Kohli scoring 77* off 46 deliveries at a stunning strike-rate of 167.39.   

Here’s how Twitter reacted: