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India defeated the Netherlands by 56 runs in their second Super 12 match of the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup played at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Thursday.
With this win, India has now topped the table in Group 2 with a positive NRR of 1.43.
India went with an unchanged team against the Netherlands indicating that they are happy with the role of off-spin all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin who can chip in with the bat in the lower middle order.
After winning the toss, India opted to bat first on a pitch which was used earlier in the match between South Africa and Bangladesh. Openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul started cautiously as the ball seemed to come slow off the pitch. India lost their first wicket in the third over when Rahul was trapped lbw on 9 off 12 by pace-bowler Paul van Meekeren when he tried to play across the line to a full-length delivery.
Rahul didn’t go for the review while his opening partner Rohit suggested to him that the ball might have been swinging down the leg side. The ball-tracking eventually proved that Rohit was correct.
India’s captain Rohit struggled for fluency on this sluggish surface but he kept on trying to hit boundaries. He was given a chance while batting on 13 when Tim Pringle dropped a sitter at mid-on. Virat Kohli, who came from a memorable knock against Pakistan at the MCG, took some time initially by rotating the strike. At the end of the powerplay, India were restricted to just 32/1.
Post-powerplay, Both Kohli and Rohit switched gears to add a crucial partnership of 73 runs off 56 balls for the second wicket. Rohit made 53 off 39 balls at a strike rate of 135.89 with four fours and three sixes before getting dismissed caught off Fred Klaasen at deep mid-wicket.
After an initial slow start, India increased their run rate by scoring 82 runs for the loss of one wicket in the 7-15 middle overs phase. After being set, Kohli found boundaries with increased frequency in the last five overs to score 30 of his last 14 balls, having scored 32 off his first 30 balls. Kohli ended his innings with a strike rate of 140.90 with three fours and two sixes for his unbeaten 62 off 44 balls.
Suryakumar, meanwhile, did what only he and a few others in the world can do. He hit seven fours and a six which came off the last ball of the innings and remained unbeaten on 51 off 25 balls with an unbelievable strike rate of 204.00. The duo of Kohli and Suryakumar added a vital 95-run stand off just 48 balls for the third wicket as India ended up scoring 65 from the last five overs to finish the innings at 179/2 in 20 overs.
In reply, the Netherlands chase never got going as Bhuvneshwar Kumar kept things tight in Power-play with back-to-back maidens and clean-bowled a struggling Vikramjit Singh. On the other end, Max O’Dowd began his innings with nicely timed square drives off Arshdeep Singh to get a couple of fours and flicked Mohammed Shami through square leg for his third four.
His promising stay at the crease came to an end when he moved across to sweep, getting bowled off a straight delivery off Axar Patel which hit his middle stump. Patel took another wicket when he made Bas de Leede reach out for a ball outside the off-stump, slicing it straight to point. Patel ended with 2/18 in his four overs.
Ravichandran Ashwin made a double strike in the 13th over as he first dismissed Colin Ackermann caught at deep mid-wicket while Tom Cooper swept a ball way down the leg side straight to the deep square leg fielder just four balls later. After completing his four overs, Ashwin ended with figures of 2/21.
Pringle scored a late cameo of 20 off 15 balls, dispatching Ashwin over long-on for six and flicking Arshdeep for four. But Shami extracted a leading edge off his flick and was caught at mid-off.
Bhuvneshwar got his second wicket when captain Scott Edwards miscued a slower ball to mid-off. Arshdeep joined the wicket-takers column when Logan van Beek was late to pull a bouncer and was caught behind. Bhuvneshwar was very disciplined with his bowling as he ended with 2/9 from his three overs which also included two maidens.
Though Arshdeep was hit by van Meekeren for a hat-trick of fours in the last three balls of the innings, the damage was done as India won the match comfortably with a big margin of 56 runs.
32-year-old Suryakumar Yadav was named Player of the Match for his scintillating 51 not out off 25 balls which included 7 fours and one six.
Brief scores: India 179/2 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 62*, Suryakumar Yadav 51*, Rohit Sharma 53; Paul van Meekeren 1/32, Fred Klaassen 1/33) beat Netherlands 123/9 in 20 overs (Tim Pringle 20, Colin Ackermann 17; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/9, Axar Patel 2/18) by 56 runs.
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