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India remain unbeaten in the competition. (AFP Photo)
India registered a rather comfortable win over Australia to qualify for the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 World Cup.
India marched into the semi-finals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 with a comprehensive win over Australia at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Saint Lucia on Monday. Captain Rohit Sharma was the star of the show as his blistering innings – 92 off 41 – set the base for what turned out to be a winning total.
Having posted 205/5 riding on Rohit’s fabulous innings, India then limited Australia to 181/7 to win by 24 runs. India will now face England in the second semi-final.
Australia though threatened to chase down the big total despite Arshdeep Singh accounting for opener David Warner in the first over of the chase. It was that man Travis Head again who unleashed a flurry of boundaries on a belter to momentarily reignite the memories of 2023 ODI World Cup final.
Head led a strong response to Rohit’s assault with a blistering half-century of his own as he took Australia to 87/1 in 8.5 overs. A moment of magic followed with Axar Patel taking a mind-boggling one-handed catch in the deep to get rid of Australia captain Mitchell Marsh on 37 and break the threatening partnership.
Next man Glenn Maxwell was in prime form too as he belted a four before bringing out the reverse hit for a six off Ravindra Jadeja. Kuldeep Yadav lured him into a slog sweep and cleaned him up on 20.
Maxwell’s dismissal allowed India to take control but it was the wicket of Head – 76 off 43 – that truly shut the doors on the Aussies.
Rohit combined brute force with elegance in his innings on a belter in their final Super Eights fixture.
On the best batting surface of the tournament, Australia put India in to bat and Rohit made the most of the conditions with a sublime knock comprising seven fours and eight sixes including a recording extending 200th in the format.
It was the start of something special when Rohit flicked Mitchell Starc for four in the first over of the game.
Virat Kohli (0) at the other end mistimed a pull off Josh Hazlewood in the following over to be caught in the deep.
Walking the talk once again, Rohit never took the foot off the pedal and went hammer and tongs against Starc, whose second over yielded as many as 29 runs, his most expensive in the format.
The first two sixes in the over came via delightful aerial drive over extra cover before he smashed one in the cow corner region. The fourth maximum of the over came via a mishit that went all the way behind the stumps.
Rohit did bulk of the damage in his 87-run stand with number three Rishabh Pant (15 off 14), who welcomed leg-spinner Adam Zampa into the attack with a six over long-on.
Australia’s trump card went wicket-less.
Another memorable shot of Rohit’s innings was the down-on-one-knee six over deep mid-wicket off Pat Cummins in the latter’s opening over.
Credit must go to India for not allowing any other bowler to settle into a rhythm. Rohit brought his fifty at end of the fifth over with a single and that was also the fastest of the tournament.
Rohit unleashed a six over extra cover when Marcus Stoinis came into the attack in the eighth over.
Such was the authority of Rohit’s innings that he could choose his spot against all the bowlers of repute. It could have been a well-deserved 100 but Starc came back to remove the India skipper with a yorker.
Suryakumar Yadav (31 off 15), Hardik Pandya (27 not out off 17) and Shivam Dube (28 off 22) also played their part but India could not make the most of the last five overs, scoring only 43 runs for the loss of one wicket.
Even as his colleagues leaked runs, Josh Hazlewood seemed to be bowling on a different pitch, conceding only 14 runs while taking one wicket in his four overs.
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