India’s Kuldeep Yadav is congratulated by teammates after taking the wicket of Australia’s Glenn Maxwell during an ICC Men’s T20 World Cup cricket match at Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, Saint Lucia, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
India on Monday assured themselves a semifinal spot after they defeated Australia by 24 runs, putting them on the brink of elimination. The 2021 champions will now have to keep a keen eye on the match between Afghanistan and Bangladesh on Tuesday morning, hoping for a win for the Bangla Tigers.
Defending 205, India got off to an ideal start after Arshdeep Singh sent back David Warner in the very first over. But the Men in Blue’s serial tormentor Travis Head built up a good partnership with captain Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell to steady the Aussies.
Kuldeep would snare both Marsh and Maxwell while Hardik Pandya snapped up Marcus Stoinis cheaply as Head still remained unbeaten. He would ultimately fall for 76 as Australia suffered a collapse with Tim David and Matthew Wade both getting dismissed in quick fashion.
India will now take on England in the semifinal match on June 27 in Guyana.
Earlier, Rohit Sharma combined brute force with elegance in his 92 off 41 balls as India amassed 205 for five against Australia on a belter in their final Super Eights fixture of the T20 World Cup.
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. 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.
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.
(With Agency Inputs)
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First uploaded on: 24-06-2024 at 23:46 IST
