This Day That Year: Virat Kohli attacking masterclass sinks Australia in Mohali
Both India and Australia had lost to the Kiwis and survived after tough encounters in the other group games. So, the PCA Stadium in Mohali, was set for showdown between two fiercely competitive teams.
The last edition of the ICC World T20 witnessed perhaps the best knock ever played in a T20 international by a batsman while chasing. On March 27, 2016, India took on Australia in a virtual quarter-final, with the winning team assured of a place in the semi-final, while the team which lost would be dumped out of the tournament as New Zealand were already through from the group.
Both India and Australia had lost to the Kiwis and survived after tough encounters in the other group games. So, the PCA Stadium in Mohali, was set for showdown between two fiercely competitive teams.
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Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja’s 54-run opening stand gave the Aussies the perfect launchpad but some tight bowling by Ravindra Jadeja and Yuvraj Singh helped the hosts pull things back as the Aussies managed 160/6.
India’s chase failed to take off as Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma were off to a slow start. A string of wickets fell thereafter and when Suresh Raina was sent back, India were struggling at 49/3 in 7.5 overs.Virat Kohli was in the middle and held the key for India. He along with Yuvraj Singh added 45 for the fourth wicket but when the southpaw was dismissed, India still needed 66 runs in 36 balls.
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A rate of 11 runs per over wasn’t unachievable but the wicket was two paced and the batsmen struggled to get a good connection between bat and ball. With Dhoni in the middle now, the doubles started coming in as the captain and vice-captain duo tried to make up for the lack of boundaries. At the end of the 17th over, the asking rate had climbed to 13 runs per over with India needed 39 to win from 18 balls.
Kohli, batting on 50, decided to take on Australia’s premier T20 bowlers. James Faulkner was hit for consecutive boundaries and a six as the Virat show began in Mohali. 19 runs came from the over as the equation dropped to 20 needed to win from 12.
Nathan Coulter-Nile had the ball in hand next and he would spend the rest of his life thinking why he took the ball for that over. Kohli hit him for four boundaries in five balls to take India to the door steps of victory.
MS Dhoni did the formality of hitting Faulkner for a boundary off the first delivery of the final over as India cruised to a 6-wicket victory with 5 balls to spare. Kohli stayed unbeaten on 82 off 51 balls, yet again proving why he has taken over the mantle of the best ‘Chase Master’ in limited overs cricket from MS Dhoni .
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