Rohit Sharma was at his best as India convincingly beat Australia by 24 runs to put the demons of last year’s final behind them and qualify for the last four of the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup.
The Aussies won the toss and elected to field first in what was potentially a must-win game for Mitchell Marsh’s side.
Rohit said he would have wanted to chase as well. But once Virat Kohli was dismissed without scoring, the skipper sprung into action, striking at over 220 to score 92 off 41 balls for the men in blue.
Suryakumar Yadav lended some good support in the middle order, delivering a 16-ball 31 run cameo to steer India to a total of 205/5 in their 20 overs.
Travis Head looked sharp in the chase, leaving Indian fans wondering if the opener would break their hearts again.
The 30-year-old scored 76 off 43; and until Jasprit Bumrah arrived to dismiss him, he looked set to get Australia home.
India’s neat bowling at the back-end means that Australia could, instead, be going home — with the boys from down under only managing 181/7 in their 20.
Afghanistan will know that a win, or even a washout against Bangladesh on Tuesday morning, will see them topple the Aussies on the table and book their place in the semi-finals alongside the Proteas, England and India.
Should Bangladesh win, Australia will face South Africa in the first semi-final. Otherwise, it will be Afghanistan on Thursday morning for the Proteas before England face India in Guyana on Thursday afternoon.
Pictured above: Rohit Sharma
Image source: @mumbaiindians
