A Virat Kohli masterclass takes India to the World T20 final
Virat Kohli had been in imperious form. He had been the tournament’s highest run-scorer up to that point. India had been the in-form team in the ICC World T20 in 2014 in Bangladesh as they had steamrolled through every opposition including the defending champions West Indies, arch-rivals Pakistan, the hosts Bangladesh and the Aussies in the group stages. South Africa stood between India and a place in the finals. and they were going to be no pushovers. Having lost their first game to Sri Lanka, South Africa had won their next three to make it to the semis.
Batting first, South Africa were jolted early by the dismissal of Quinton De Kock, but Hashim Amla and captain Faf Du Plessis were impressive in their approach as they amassed runs with ease in the powerplay. It took a Warne-esque delivery from R Ashwin, pitching outside leg and castling Amla’s middle and off stumps while he tried to work the ball away onto the leg side, to break the dangerous-looking stand. A magnificent 71-run stand between du Plessis and JP Duminy and a late onslaught by David Miller guided South Africa to an above-par 172.
Virat Kohli scored a masterful 72 off 44 taking India to the finals of the World T20
South Africa had successfully defended their totals in their previous three games. South Africa had never lost a game in their history while defending scores above 170. The odds were stacked against India reaching the final. Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane started off briskly, but a mistimed pull by the former, put short the promising opening partnership with the score on 39. Virat and Rahane smartly played out the threat posed by the leggie Imran Tahir who had been the tournament’s joint-highest wicket-taker, while also not allowing the scoring rate to drop. The dismissal of Rahane brought Yuvraj Singh to the crease with India still needing 96 at just above 10 an over.
Yuvraj Singh’s struggles initially meant Kohli had to take over the aggressive mantle. He took the calculated risk against JP Duminy, South Africa’s fifth choice bowler, and lofting him over long-on for a six. Yuvraj joined the party a while later but was soon dismissed with India still needing 40 off the final four overs. South Africa had built up a reputation of being the masters of defending scores over the tournament.
Kohli stepped up like he always does. This was one such game that added to the aura of Kohli being the undisputed king of chases. His innings consisted of only 3 dot balls out of the 44 he faced. 40 of his 72 runs came in singles and twos. Such was the perfection in the timing of the run chase, that despite needing 40 off the final 4, M.S. Dhoni had the luxury of blocking the last ball of the 19th over, just so that he could let Kohli hit the winning runs. A flick through mid-wicket by Kohli against Dale Steyn was a symbol of the dominance the rising star had inflicted over the veteran Protean superstar. India had made the finals with ease, chasing a record total against a world-class bowling attack. India had made the final of the World T20 after a long gap of seven years. Virat Kohli had added another string to his symphony of perfect run-chases.
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