Rohit Sharma once again elevated the muscular exercise of T20 six-hitting into an aesthetic art form as his 41-ball 92 headlined India’s 24-run win in the final T20 World Cup Super Eight game against Australia at the Daren Sammy Stadium in St. Lucia on Monday.
India will face England in the second semifinal in Guyana on June 27. Australia will await the result of the Afghanistan versus Bangladesh match to learn its fate.
Travis Head, India’s nemesis in recent ICC tournaments, loomed large once again as Australia chased 206. With 107 needed off 60 balls and Head smashing 54 off just 26, one could’ve understood if Indian players had a tingling sensation and hairs prickling on their arms.
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Despite an early setback with David Warner’s wicket, Head and Mitchell Marsh’s 81-run, second-wicket partnership kept Australia in the hunt.
Axar Patel’s acrobatic catch in the deep removed Marsh, and Kuldeep Yadav bamboozled Glenn Maxwell with a googly, but they struggled to contain Head’s onslaught as he cleared his front leg to access both sides of the wicket.
Australia had brought the equation down to 58 off the last four overs, with six wickets intact. It called for the showman, mind reader and the master to change the course of the game. And so arrived Jasprit Bumrah, and with a loopy slower off-cutter on leg-stump induced a false shot to have Head caught at cover for 76 off 43.
After going for 15 in his first two, Bumrah’s third went for just five and effectively sealed the game in India’s favour.
Earlier, despite overnight showers threatening to delay play, the weather cleared just in time. This match was played on the same surface where South Africa defended 163 against England, with the impact of the prevailing east-to-west wind, blowing at 21 kph, becoming evident immediately.
Australia brought back Mitchell Starc for Ashton Agar and chose to bowl, while India remained unchanged. Australia struck in the second over as Virat Kohli attempted to pull a short ball from Josh Hazlewood into the wind, resulting in a sharp catch by Tim David at mid-on.
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Rohit’s explosive response was swift and stunning in the subsequent over. Starc’s strategy to swing the ball into the right-hander with the wind misfired, resulting in his most expensive T20 over ever—29 runs. Rohit, with his trademark flair, bludgeoned five boundaries, including three sixes, to notch his fastest T20 fifty in just 19 balls. He continued to dominate, dispatching Adam Zampa for a towering six and punishing Marcus Stoinis with three consecutive boundaries. His aggressive footwork against pacers, exploiting the lack of swing on a flat track, was pivotal.
Despite losing Rishabh Pant to Zampa, India raced to 100 in a mere 8.4 overs, its quickest century in T20 World Cups. Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav were steering towards a formidable partnership until Starc’s change in tactics, switching to round the wicket and employing off-cutters, dismissed Rohit in the 12th over.
India’s strategy of maintaining a right-left batting combination to counter Zampa paid off, yielding 41 off his four. However, Suryakumar’s departure for 31 slowed the momentum. Hardik Pandya’s brisk cameo of 27 off 17 balls propelled India past 200, yet the match belonged to Rohit’s dazzling display.
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