Virat Kohli gets into a good position and pulls it into the gap for a couple to complete his hard-fought half-century.
Exactly 18 overs before this shot off Pat Cummins, Kohli had miscued a pull off Josh Hazlewood but Mitchell Marsh dropped a running catch to give the right-hander, who was batting on 12, an early life. The drop switched on Kohli as moments later, he became the chase master the world knows him to be and soaked in all the pressure and was ready for whatever came his way.
The period preceding the drop was a disastrous one for the Indian cricket team as they lost Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer for ducks and were reeling at 3/2. Unlike the first innings, where spin played a major role, the 22 yards spiced up and Australian bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood made the early inroads to put India on the mat.
Kohli was still out there but, before the drop, he looked very itchy in the middle. There were attempts to chase deliveries outside off and he was nowhere close to control. But as has been the case in his illustrious chasing career so far, he somehow finds a way. And he did.
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From the moment Glenn Maxwell was introduced into the attack as a second-change bowler, both Kohli and his partner KL Rahul started easing into control mode and it was only a matter of time before the runs started to flow.
Kohli began to move his feet nicely and the two gorgeous flicks in the Cameron Green over signalled his return to complete control mode. A positive-looking KL Rahul at the other end helped the partnership flourish and resulted in India’s second-best fourth-wicket or below stand for India in World Cups. And a match-sealing one.
By the time Kohli was dismissed for a brilliant 85 under pressure, India were within striking distance of victory and KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya pushed the side over the line without any hiccup.
KL Rahul in the zone
Ever since returning from the long injury lay-off, Rahul has been in the zone. From the brilliant hundred vs Pakistan in the Asia Cup to this match-winning 91* under pressure, he is not putting a foot wrong and continues to be an asset for the team in the middle-order.
It’s not just the runs, but the way he scores them and how he never allows the pressure to seep into an innings.
Top-order disaster
Indian top-order, however, would like to forget this match as quickly as possible because it was a terrible start by them. While Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer didn’t have the best shot selection given the situation of the match, Rohit Sharma too was trapped in front early by Josh Hazlewood.
For India to go all the way in the tournament, one of the top-three needs to bat long and big. It was Kohli today, but it can’t be Kohli all the time.
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