Hours before skipper Rohit Sharma went out for the toss against Zimbabwe in Melbourne, India knew they were securely perched in the semi-finals of this T20 World Cup. On Sunday afternoon in Australia, India were greeted with surprising but great news in the form of The Netherlands’ win over South Africa in Adelaide, which guaranteed them a berth among the last four.
Their final group-phase clash against Zimbabwe had become more of academic interest, but a win would have given them top spot in Group 2. And India ensured they did the needful, outclassing Zimbabwe by 71 runs in front of another big turnout at the MCG.
The victory will also keep India in a good mental space ahead of their semi-final clash against England at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
Once again, it was Suryakumar Yadav (61 not out off 25 balls) who stood out for India after they won the toss and opted to bat, taking the team total to 186 for 5. Thereafter, all the bowlers were amongst wickets as India bundled Zimbabwe out for 115 in 17.2 overs.
Virat Kohli (26) didn’t score too many on the day, though he looked quite sharp during his stay in the middle. KL Rahul (51), in spite of losing his opening partner Rohit (15) with not many runs on the board, hit some fine shots to register his second straight half-century.
Where to bowl?
But the standout performance came again off Suryakumar’s blade.
India had suddenly slipped to 101 for 4 halfway into the 14th over with the quick dismissals of Kohli, Rahul and wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, who finally got a game after coming in place of Dinesh Karthik. But that’s when Suryakumar brought his A-game into play.
Getting the necessary support from Hardik Pandya during their 65-run partnership for the fifth wicket, Suryakumar played his strokes over extra cover and past mid-off to perfection along with executing the ramp shot to perfection. But where would one bowl to someone who effortlessly dispatches full deliveries pitched wide outside off-stump over the fine-leg or square-leg region?
The Zimbabwe bowlers, understandably, looked clueless as Suryakumar hammered 20 off the last four balls of the innings.
England obviously have a superior attack, but with India’s confidence ‘SKY-high’, the semi-final battle will be an interesting one.
Talking point
Captain’s crisis India captain Rohit Sharma was middling the ball and also hit a couple of fine boundaries at the MCG on Sunday. But yet again, he perished early, having scored only 15.
On this occasion though, there wasn’t any problem at all as far as the timing of Rohit’s pull was concerned. But unfortunately, it went straight to the hands of the fielder at deep square leg. KL Rahul seems to have shrugged off his lean patch with back-to-back fifties. Will Rahul’s return to form rub off on his opening partner? India would hope so because against England in the semis, they would need an even stronger performance from the entire team, and that includes the captain.
Arshdeep swings in
India have played five matches in this World Cup so far. Have they missed Jasprit Bumrah? Probably not, and for that all credit to India’s seam attack, especially the young Arshdeep Singh. The young left-arm speedster was on the ball once again on Sunday.
If Arshdeep can get such movement in the semi-final as well, the England batters, too, could be in all sorts of trouble. They didn’t find it too easy against Arshdeep in the lone T20I he had played in Southampton back in July, which was also his debut international game.
Out of spin
Barring the game against TheNetherlands, Axar Patel’s left-arm spin hasn’t really been of much help for India so far on Australian pitches. Not that he bowled the full quota of overs in every game, but finishing with 1/40 in 3.2 overs against a struggling Zimbabwe side doesn’t bode well for him. However, the team management still seems to have faith in Axar. It is up to Axar now to have some self-belief of his own and turn his campaign around.
