Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 82, sealed the ICC World T20 semis berth in Mohali on Sunday, beating Australia by six wickets. "It was the Virat show," said a stunned Steven Smith with a mixture of admiration and resignation at the end of the match.
Australia have put up a competitive total on a tricky wicket. India have gotten off to a bad start. Everybody had their fingers crossed. Then came the ‘Kohli express’ to seal the semi berth. Virat Kohli played a masterful innings against the Aussies to help India qualify for semi-finals of ICC World T20.
“You can see an innings like that and one guy taking the game away from a team, which I don’t think you have the luxury of doing in the longer formats of the game,†said Smith with a slightly stunned visage. “It was a pretty serious innings from Virat Kohli to take that game away from us tonight.â€
Australia put their score at 160/6, which is a pretty good one to chase in a T20 match. Chasing 161, India got off to a shaky start but Virat and Yuvraj Singh steadied the ship in the middle overs before the former, with MS Dhoni, powered India over the line.
Kohli’s first ball was a defensive stride forward to Josh Hazlewood. His second was a straighter. There was no shot, just a bat placed in the ball’s path. It sped through midwicket like a shot on a pool table. The next ball was full outside off. Kohli’s polite interjection directed it behind point for four.
"In the middle overs it's all about running between the wickets. If you can take the double, that puts pressure on the fielders. And it pushes the captain to bring the fielder up slowly, slowly you bring them towards you and then you have the power to clear over their head. That's what really counts. One boundary and the captain doesn't know where to have them," said Dhoni.
Kohli himself described the innings as his best, while also adding that he was emotional. When his brushstrokes are hampered, Kohli knows that he has it in him to thrive with the ugly. He relishes the process of small taps building up to bigger things. And thus ‘Kohli express’ scripted the semi berth for India.
By Premji
