In the second Super 12 match in the T20 World Cup 2022, India put up a sizeable total of 179/2 against the Netherlands on Thursday at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Having beaten Pakistan in a thrilling encounter three days ago, India would have hoped to thrash the Dutch to progress near to the semi-final berth. And that is what they did: first, the batters posted an above-par total, and then the bowlers finished the job with ease.
Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first on an SCG surface that had seen a game being already played earlier in the day and the pitch was expected to slow down further as the match progressed.
KL Rahul got out in the third over for only 9 runs, and scored from 12 balls. Skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who is coming off a knock-for-ages innings against Pakistan, did the rebuilding job, but perhaps remained slightly more conservative than the fans thought they should have been, in their partnership of 73 (56).
Rohit Sharma hit a fifty (53 off 39) and then the in-form Suryakumar Yadav joined Virat Kohli in the middle and began a dazzling display of power-hitting and gap-finding.
While Kohli upped the ante from his end, Suryakumar was batting on a different pitch and was carving out boundaries with much more ease than what the batting of the other three batters suggested.
Kohli finished with 62* (44) and Suryakumar with 51* (25). SKY smashed 7 fours and one six. That six came on the last ball of India’s innings and which lit up the crowd as well as Kohli.
On the last ball of India’s innings, bowled by pacer Logan van Beek, Suryakumar walloped a superb maximum. Logan van Beek came around the wicket and SKY had already set himself up for a slog on the leg side. The bowler offered a gift on the leg stumps and SKY’s pads as he thumped the ball over fine leg for a bewitching sixer.
This got the crowd on their feet, and also got Kohli excited as he and Suryakumar celebrated that six with their hands raised in the air and screamed their lungs out.
You can watch the six, and the celebration of Kohli and Suryakumar that followed here:
He enjoyed that one, did #KingKohli! 😲
What was your reaction to this jaw-dropping hit over the covers for six?
ICC Men’s #T20WorldCup #INDvNED #BelieveInBlue #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/bPOqOHD9RU
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) October 27, 2022
