Melbourne| Virat Kohli (82 not out) and Hardik Pandya (40) shared a scintillating 78-ball 113 as India pulled Pakistan to the last ball in the T20 World Cup Super 12 group match at the Melbourne Cricket Stadium here on Sunday. Got off to a great start to his campaign by defeating him by a wicket. Along with this, he also avenged the defeat in the last World Cup. In reply to Pakistan’s 159 runs, India chased down the target by scoring 160 runs for the loss of six wickets in 20 overs.
For Pakistan, Haris Rauf and Mohammad Nawaz took two wickets each, while Naseem Shah took one wicket.
Chasing the target, the Indian team had a very poor start, as they lost four important wickets for 31 runs in 6.1 overs. During this, KL Rahul (4), captain Rohit Sharma (4), Suryakumar Yadav (15) and Axar Patel (0) kept on going. India looked to be in deep trouble after four wickets fell early. But Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya handled the innings.
Meanwhile, both played some good shots to take India’s score past 100. However, the Pakistani bowlers kept the pressure on. 48 runs were needed in the last 18 balls. Kohli completed his half-century in 43 balls by hitting a four off Shaheen’s ball. India got 16 runs in the 18th over, which brought them even closer to the target.
On the balls of Rauf, who came to bowl the 19th over, Kohli scored 15 runs including two sixes. India needed 16 runs in 6 balls. Hardik (40) was caught on the first ball of Mohammad Nawaz, who came to bowl the last over. With this, the partnership of 113 runs in 78 balls between him and Kohli came to an end. Dinesh Karthik (1), who came at number seven, also went on. Kohli then took India closer to victory by hitting a six in a thrilling turn, after which R Ashwin came up with a winning shot with the bat.
In response to Pakistan’s 159 runs, the Indian team scored 160 runs in 20 overs for the loss of six wickets. In this way, India defeated Pakistan by four wickets and made a splendid start to the T20 World Cup. Virat hit six fours and four sixes in his match-winning unbeaten 82 off 53 balls, for which he received the player of the match award.
After the victory, captain Rohit Sharma lifted Kohli on the shoulder. Hardik kissed her head. Chak De India is echoing on the field. The audience is stunned. Never seen a match like this before. What a great match, where each ball was coming with a different story. However, there was one character in every story that was always common and that is Virat Kohli. This man led India to victory from a situation from where every hope was dying. The story of 28 runs in the last eight balls is amazing, which will be remembered for a long time.
