India vs Netherlands, T20 World Cup: India Claim Pole Position With 56-Run Win
India vs Netherlands, T20 World Cup: Chasing a target of 180 runs, Netherlands could only score 179.
India vs Netherlands, T20 World Cup 2022: India defeated Netherlands by 56 runs.
(Photo: Twitter/T20WorldCup)
India climbed to the top of the Group 2 points table with a clinical 56-run win over Netherlands in their second ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 on Thursday, 27 October. Chasing a target of 180 runs, the Dutch could score only 123/9 in their allotted 20 overs.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar set the tone for Rohit Sharma’s team by bowling two consecutive maiden overs, while also dismissing Vikramjit Singh. The likes of Max O’Dowd, Bas de Leede and Colin Ackermann got starts, but neither could capitalise on it to play a big knock.
Tim Pringle and Shariz Ahmed played a cameo to help Netherlands reduce the margin of defeat, but the consistent fall of wickets curbed any sort of a comeback from the Dutch.
Three Half-Centuries Helped India Score 179
Earlier, captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav hit half-centuries in propelling India to a challenging 179/2. With the Netherlands putting a lid on the scoring rate, India found it difficult to break free on a two-paced pitch. But Rohit (53 off 39 balls) and Kohli (62 not out off 44 balls) shared a 73-run stand for the second wicket despite being scratchy at the start.
Suryakumar (51 not out off 25 balls) then changed the tempo of the innings with his 360-degree style of batting and had an amazing 95-run stand off 48 deliveries with Kohli for the third wicket to set a stiff 180-target for the Netherlands.
Electing to bat first, KL Rahul got off the mark with a breezy drive past mid-off off Fred Klaassen. But in the third over, Rahul missed a flick and trapped lbw by a late inswinger from Paul van Meekeren though replays later showed the ball would have missed hitting leg-stump.
Rohit Sharma had slices of luck on his side. His miscued pull off Klaassen in the fifth over was dropped by Tim Pringle at mid-on, and in the next over, his uppish flick off van Meekeren landed just in front of Pringle again at short fine leg.
Following the conclusion of the powerplay, Rohit Sharma cut loose by pulling Logan van Beek for a six over wide long-on. Luck again fell in his favour as he successfully survived an lbw appeal on the very next ball.
From there, Rohit found his groove, but in the last delivery of the 12th over, he was caught at deep mid-wicket off Klaassen while swiping across the line.
Suryakumar's arrival opened the floodgates for India. He upped the ante against de Leede in the 16th over, striking him for successive fours through the off-side. Kohli then joined the act to bring up yet another half-century, while Suryakumar Yadav struck a six in the very last delivery to bring up his tenth T20I half-century.
(With inputs from IANS).
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)