At the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, under bright skies, captain Rohit Sharma wrecked havoc on Australia’s bowlers with an incredible 92 off 41 balls. This laid the groundwork for India’s 24-run victory that sent them into the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 semifinals.
In the Super Eight stage match, India amassed a massive 205/5 thanks to Rohit’s amazing efforts, which included a fifty in just 19 balls. However, Travis Head, the opener, appeared to be in danger of losing as he cleared his front leg and hammered his shots all over the park in a heroic 43 balls, 76, despite receiving little assistance from other batters.
Arshdeep Singh took 3-37 after Kuldeep Yadav took 2-24, including the dismissal of Glenn Maxwell, and Australia was only able to reach 181/7 in the 20 overs. As a result, India finishes the Super Eight stage with a perfect record. They will play the reigning champions, England, in their semifinal match on Thursday in Guyana.
Australia’s fate in the semifinals is now sealed; should Afghanistan defeat Bangladesh in St. Vincent, they will be eliminated from the tournament. From the start, Rohit was determined to go all out. He towered over everyone and crushed Australia with seven fours and eight sixes at a strike percentage of 224.39, leaving the crowd in awe.
Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, and Hardik Pandya contributed with scores of 31, 28, and 27 not out, respectively, during an incredible innings for the Indian team that included 15 sixes, the most of any player in a T20 World Cup match. India, forced to bat first, took a massive blow in the second over when Virat Kohli was dismissed for a five-ball duck. He was trying to pull Hazlewood, but Tim David, running 26 metres to his right at mid-on, caught the top edge.
While bowling full and wide balls that the Indian captain lofted twice over cover for consecutive sixes, Starc attempted to swing the ball into Rohit. After that, Rohit hit Starc hard over mid-on for four and then top-egged him twice (on a full toss) for two more sixes to finish the third over with 29 runs.
Before the rain intervened, Rohit welcomed Pat Cummins with an impressive slog-sweep that went over the stadium roof at 100 metres. Following a ten-minute break due to rain, Rohit carried on his rampaging, hitting two more fours with a slice and a top-edge, reaching his fifty in just 19 balls.
With a pulled four off Hazlewood, Rishabh Pant entered the boundary-pushing fraternity and greeted Adam Zampa with a long-on, high five. After hitting Marcus Stoinis for two sixes and a four, Rohit swiped Zampa for a massive six. His dancing down the pitch and inside-out lofted shot over the extra-cover fence was particularly impressive.
While Pant was holing out to long-off, Rohit continued by pulling Stoinis for two fours. Suryakumar then took three quick boundaries by square driving, swiping through the long leg, and lofting over extra cover. When Starc’s slower yorker, which was coming from round the wicket, finally had the last say, he trapped Rohit for 92 off 41 balls.
Taking the first wicket, Dube hit Zampa for a huge six over deep mid-wicket after driving Stoinis through mid-off for four. He then launched an upper-cut off Starc for four more. After cutting Starc for four more runs while he was between the backward-point and short third-man, Suryakumar heaved Stoinis for six.
But in his last over, Starc had the last laugh when he forced Suryakumar Yadav to cut a wide off-cutter behind the ‘keeper. Pandya ended the short lean phase by slapping Cummins four times and hitting sixes over extra-cover and long-off with his bottom hand. Dube holed out to deep-cover off Stoinis, but India passed 200 thanks to a flicked six off Cummins in the last over by Ravindra Jadeja.
David Warner was caught off guard by Arshdeep’s diving first-slip during the chase, and he fell for six. Mitchell Marsh was dropped on five after Arshdeep was unable to take a catch on his follow-through, and he survived on zero after Pant stumbled while chasing a catch off the pull. Marsh then started hitting boundaries, hitting Arshdeep for two fours before finishing the third over with a massive pulled six.
Head slashed and pulled Jasprit Bumrah for two fours before smashing a full toss for four through point to join the boundary-hitting frenzy. Marsh took full advantage of Axar Patel’s lacklustre performance, hitting him for four and six, respectively, before Head lofted and heaved Pandya for two sixes. Head continued to deal in boundaries, effortlessly pulling in a six and hitting a four over Hardik’s head.
However, Kuldeep broke the 81-run partnership for the second wicket under intense pressure when Marsh went down to sweep, but Axar perfectly timed his jump at deep square leg and extended his right hand to pluck the ball out of thin air. In the tenth over, he head-slashed, whipped, and sliced Pandya for three boundaries, the second of which gave him his fifty in twenty-four balls.
Maxwell set off a fireworks display when he skillfully touched the short third man to the boundary to take four off Ravindra Jadeja’s opening ball. He then executed two daring reverse sweeps, going for four and six, respectively, after that. Following that, India recovered magnificently.
Maxwell attempted to take on Kuldeep by going down the pitch to hack across the line, but the googly left his stumps in a messy state. Stoinis attempted a reverse-sweep off Axar in the following over, but backward-point caught him on the rebound.
Head was tricked by Bumrah again, who bowled a slower ball, and he had to cover, falling for 76. After returning, Arshdeep quickly trapped Tim David and Matthew Wade by short third-man, effectively winning the match for India.
Brief Scores:
India 205/5 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 92, Suryakumar Yadav 31; Mitchell Starc 2-45, Marcus Stoinis 2-56) beat Australia 181/7 in 20 overs (Travis Head 76, Mitchell Marsh 37; Arshdeep Singh 3-37, Kuldeep Yadav 2-24) by 24 runs
