Lionheart: Virat Kohli makes magic as India get 28 off last eight balls after horror 31/4
Melbourne, October 23
Virat Kohli sang a perfect redemption song on the grandest stage with a magical knock, engineering India’s narrow four-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, packed with 90,000 boisterous fans, here today.
Well, it’s a surreal atmosphere. I honestly have no words. I have no idea how that happened. Hardik kept telling me, just believe we can stay till the end. I’m lost for words Virat Kohli
King Kohli conjured up an unbeaten 82 to anchor a chase of 160, which was in tatters after India were reduced to 31/4 in 6.1 overs. Hardik Pandya, the most important cog in India’s T20 wheel, struck 40 off 37 balls, adding 113 for the fifth wicket with Kohli.
India were staring at defeat after four balls of the 19th over, needing another 28 runs off eight balls. Kohli struck three sixers after that, including one in the final over, and Pakistan crumbled under the pressure. Kohli’s ability to win matches for India had become suspect due to a prolonged lean patch, but today he proved that he is still one of the best chasers in cricket.
The final act of the magical night started in the 19th over, when Kohli struck sixers off the fifth and sixth balls. Haris Rauf, after 22 splendid deliveries in which he had given away 24 runs, bowled two bad balls and it changed the complexion of the game.
Asked about those sixes, Kohli said, “It’s just instinctively I saw it, told myself to stay still. The one at long-on was unexpected, it was a back-of-a-length slower ball. The fine leg one, I just threw my bat at it.”
More drama was to follow in the final over, bowled by Mohammed Nawaz, in which India needed 16 runs. First ball, Pandya holed out to Babar Azam at cover point. Dinesh Karthik took a single off the second ball, and Kohli got two off the third. India now needed 13 off three, and Kohli despatched a juicy full toss for six — and it was also called a no-ball on height. Now India needed only six off three. Nawaz then bowled a wide, and Kohli was then bowled trying to sweep — but it was the free-hit ball, and the Indians ran three byes. Now India needed two off two — but Karthik was stumped by Mohammed Rizwan! Two needed off one ball — and Nawaz bowled yet another wide! Final ball, and Ravichandran Ashwin calmly struck it over mid-off, and the stadium erupted in celebrations. With the MCG reverberating with the song ‘Chak De India’, Kohli seemed numb. He punched the ground, got hugged by each of his teammate and congratulated by the Pakistanis.
Close shave
But it was a very, very close shave. In India’s chase, KL Rahul’s struggles against extreme pace continued, while Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav got out cheaply, too. In no time, India were 31/4. Kohli and Pandya needed to consolidate for the next four overs, eschewing risks. The two understand the grammar of a T20 chase, and only when leg-spinner Shadab Khan came to bowl did Pandya chance his arm and sent the ball soaring into the stands. In the next over, Kohli gave Nawaz the same treatment and Pandya got his second six. India needed 60 from the last five overs but Rauf and Naseem Shah gave only six runs each in the 16th and 17th overs. This set the stage for the final onslaught by Kohli.
Arshdeep on fire
Earlier, Arshdeep bowled a dream opening spell and Pandya proved his worth in the back-10 as India restricted Pakistan to 159/8.
Arshdeep removed skipper Babar Azam (0) and Rizwan (4) in his first two overs to set the tone. Pandya (3/30) rekindled memories of his Asia Cup heroics by consistently hitting hard lengths at brisk pace, letting the pitch do the rest. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/22) and Arshdeep knew all they needed to do was to pitch the ball up and let the track do the rest. Both bowl at an average speed of around 130 km/h, and they troubled the batters with fuller lengths. Iftikhar Ahmed (51) was the only batter who looked like taking the attack to India as spinners Ashwin and Axar Patel (1/21) struggled a bit, and the designated sixth bowler Pandya had to bowl his full quota. Shan Masood struck 52 off 42 but never looked really comfortable. — Agencies
Very happy how I bowled: Arshdeep
Young paceman Arshdeep Singh, who removed Babar Azam off the first ball and also got rid of Mohammad Rizwan, was delighted by his performance. “We are just enjoying our game. I didn’t work too much on myself, just trying to keep things simple as much as possible. The atmosphere of the team is very good. We enjoy each other’s success and if a player has a bad day, we always stand by him, so it helps a lot,” Arshdeep said. “Very happy with my bowling. We were talking from the beginning itself that we will take wickets in the starting and will restrict Pakistan from scoring big runs. All credit goes to our batters for the way they finished the game, especially Virat Kohli,” he added.
Scoreboard
Pakistan
Runs Balls 4s 6s
M Rizwan c Kumar b Arshdeep 4 12 1 0
B Azam lbw b Arshdeep 0 1 0 0
S Masood not out 52 42 5 0
I Ahmed lbw b Shami 51 34 2 4
S Khan c Yadav b Pandya 5 6 1 0
H Ali c Yadav b Pandya 2 4 0 0
M Nawaz c Karthik b Pandya 9 6 2 0
A Ali c Karthik b Arshdeep 2 3 0 0
S Afridi c & b Kumar 16 8 1 1
H Rauf not out 6 4 0 1
Extras: (b 2, lb 4, w 6) 12
Total: (8 wickets, 20 overs) 159
FOW: 1-1, 2-15, 3-91, 4-96, 5-98, 6-115, 7-120, 8-151
Bowling O M R W
Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4 0 22 1
Arshdeep Singh 4 0 32 3
Mohammed Shami 4 0 25 1
Hardik Pandya 4 0 30 3
Ravichandran Ashwin 3 0 23 0
Axar Patel 1 0 21 0
India
Runs Balls 4s 6s
KL Rahul b Shah 4 8 0 0
R Sharma c Iftikhar b Rauf 4 7 0 0
V Kohli not out 82 53 6 4
S Yadav c Rizwan b Rauf 15 10 2 0
A Patel run out 2 3 0 0
H Pandya c Azam b Nawaz 40 37 1 2
D Karthik st Rizwan b Nawaz 1 2 0 0
R Ashwin not out 1 1 0 0
Extras: (b 3, lb 1, nb 1, w 6) 11
Total: (6 wickets, 20 overs) 160
FOW: 1-7, 2-10, 3-26, 4-31, 5-144, 6-158
Bowling O M R W
Shaheen Afridi 4 0 34 0
Naseem Shah 4 0 23 1
Haris Rauf 4 0 36 2
Shadab Khan 4 0 21 0
Mohammad Nawaz 4 0 42 2
Player of the Match: Virat Kohli
Sri Lanka thump Ireland
Hobart: Kusal Mendis grabbed another half-century as Sri Lanka trounced Ireland by nine wickets to build confidence ahead of a potentially pivotal Super 12 clash against champions Australia. Opener Mendis fired Sri Lanka to victory with an unbeaten 68 as his team mowed down Ireland’s 128/8 with 30 balls to spare in the clash of qualifiers. Since a shock first-up loss to Namibia during qualifying, 2014 champions Sri Lanka have now won three matches in succession. Reuters
