India stormed into the final of the ICC World T20 with a
resounding six-wicket victory over South Africa, with Virat Kohli once again
rising to the occasion with a scintillating unbeaten 76 here on Friday.
Chasing a competitive target of 173, India completed the
task with five balls to spare to reach their second World T20 final. The
reigning ODI world champions will lock horns with Sri Lanka in the title clash
on Sunday.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni deliberately played a dot ball
to ensure that the day's hero got a chance to score the winning stroke off Dale
Steyn.
Kohli produced his best T20 International knock when it
mattered the most, scoring his runs off just 44 balls and with the help of five
fours and two sixes.
Suresh Raina's 21 off 10 balls was equally important in the
final context of the match as India reached the final for the first time since
the inaugural edition in South Africa.
Needing 51 off the last five overs, Kohli upped the ante as
he smacked Imran Tahir over deep mid-wicket for a huge six to complete his 50
off 35 balls. But Tahir got a breakthrough when Yuvraj Singh (18) didn't get
the elevation and A B de Villiers took one of the best catches of the tourney,
running from his long-on position.
New man Raina got into the act immediately as he pulled
Wayne Parnell behind deep fine leg for a six to bring down the equation. An
uppish shot through vacant third man and an inside edge meant that Parnell gave
away 17 runs. The over proved to be the turning point as India got the equation
down to 23 from three overs.
Indian started the chase with a flurry of boundaries,
including three in J P Duminy's first over. Ajinkya Rahane's was a backfoot
punch through the covers while Rohit Sharma got an edge through slips and
banged the next past mid-off as 14 came off the opening over.
Albie Morkel got the new ball from the other end and Rohit's
spanking square cut got him his third boundary. His fourth boundary came when
he pulled Morkel over the mid-wicket fielder.
With 23 from two overs, India's chase was on the right
track.
Dale Steyn was promptly brought in and the last ball of his
opening over was slashed over point by Rohit for a six.
However, Rohit was gone when he offered a skier off
Hendricks, as skipper Faf du Plessis ran from his mid-off position to take
well-judged catch. Rohit's 24 came off 13 balls with four boundaries and six.
The 50 came off five overs as Rahane moved towards the
leg-side to lift Parnell over extra cover for a huge six.
Parnell had his revenge when he bowled one just short of
length and Rahane's short arm jab was taken by de Villiers, running from
mid-wicket boundary position. Rahane took 30 balls for his 32 that had two
fours and a six.
Kohli played himself in and his first big shot was a six off
Duminy.
When Hendricks bowled a short one, Kohli pulled him behind
square as the 100 came up in the 13th over. The script then pretty much
unfolded on expected lines as India romped home comfortably.
Earlier, Du Plessis came back from his one-match suspension
with an attractive half-century as South Africa posted a challenging total.
Riding on Du Plessis' 58 off 41 balls and senior campaigner Jean-Paul Duminy's
40-ball 45, the Proteas scored their highest total against India in the
tournament so far.
David Miller's 12-ball 23 helped to prop up the total.
Barring Ravichandran Ashwin, who had brilliant figures of
three for 22 from his four overs, other Indian bowlers had a disappointing day
in office.
Amit Mishra gave his worst performance (0/36 in three overs)
of the tournament, even as Dhoni was unable to complete the quota of his three
specialist bowlers.
The most impressive part about South Africa's batting was
that their batsmen did not try to fight the conditions. Du Plessis showed the
virtue of spending some time before going on the ascendancy, while the seasoned
Duminy also played an important hand in the team's total.
The Duminy-Du Plessis pair added 71 runs in 8.4 overs for
the third wicket, laying the foundation for a fighting score.
0 comments:
Post a Comment