India vs Australia T20 World Cup: Rohit rhapsody and a morale-boosting win for India push Australia towards the exit

Players of India celebrate the dismissal of Australia's David Warner during an ICC Men's T20 World Cup cricket match (PTI pic)

Rohit Sharma led the way with one of the most sublime innings in the history of T20 World Cups, Travis Head threatened to counter it, and India prevailed over Australia by 24 runs due to some brilliant middle overs bowled by the spinners. Throw in a super catch by Axar Patel at a critical juncture, and it was as comprehensive a win in a needle contest in a big event as you will come across.

In St Lucia before this match, Australia and the West Indies had made in excess of 200 in the competition. So India’s 205/5 looked formidable, but not the safest of totals against a champion side which had to win this. And at 99/2 after 10 overs, with Head going great guns, it was anybody’s game. That was when Kuldeep Yadav weaved his magic, and backed up by Axar and others, helped India get over a mental block. They had to beat Australia after losing to them in big matches of late.

Rohit’s 41-ball 92 was an antithesis of what is associated with him. He is essentially a non-violent murderer of the cricket ball. Timing is his forte and not power. In a match where India wanted to prove a point other than gaining two, the captain showed a different side of his game. He came out with a clear intention to kill. Tearing into Mitchell Starc and hitting four sixes in the third over was the announcement that here is someone eager to make a statement. It was a loud one indeed.

The best part was India found contributors to build on that Rohit rhapsody. Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya did not get huge scores, but flexed muscles enough to ensure that Australia had to play out of their skins to secure the win they so desperately needed. The men from Down Under actually did well to keep the total under 220 and retain a chance.

They did take their chances. Arshdeep Singh dropped a catch in the third over and benefactor Mitch Marsh helped Head forge a partnership that kept the Indians on tenterhooks for a long time. Current rate matching the asking rate and wickets in hand, Australia were in it. Head was special and there were genuine fears among the India fans that he would be the thorn in the flesh once again.

That’s when the spinners tightened the screw. Kuldeep was the flag-bearer with his disguised bag of tricks, Axar held that important catch to send back Marsh other than delivering a few tidy overs and India were in the driving seat. Jasprit Bumrah came back to dismiss Head and it was game, set and match for India right then and there. It’s a huge win, which might have serious implications on what happens in the rest of this T20 World Cup.

In exclusive arrangement with RevSportz