Virat Kohli put on a show with the bat as India opened their T20 World Cup 2022 campaign with a thrilling four-wicket victory over Pakistan at MCG on Sunday (October 23).
Asked to bat first, Pakistan posted 159/8 in their allotted 20 overs. Shan Masood was the top scorer with 52 not out off 42 balls while Iftikhar Ahmed returned with 34-ball 51.
Hardik Pandya (3-30) and Arshdeep Singh (3-32) were pick of the bowlers for India, picking three wickets each. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-22) and Mohammad Shami (1-25) also bowled economically and claimed one scalp each.
In reply, the Men in Blue were reeling at 31/4 at one stage. Amid the pressure situation, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya added 113 runs for the fifth wicket to keep India in the hunt.
In the process, Kohli anchored the Indian innings and notched up his half-century off 43 balls. After the milestone, the veteran batter took the Pakistani attack to the cleaners.
Virat was the chief architect as India accumulated 17 runs from 18th over off Shaheen Afridi and 15 runs from the penultimate over off Haris Rauf to make the equation – 16 off last 6 balls.
While Pandya lost his wicket on the first delivery of the final over to Mohammad Nawaz, Kohli didn’t lose his composure and smashed the left-arm spinner for a six off no-ball followed by a three to put India on the brink of victory.
In a dramatic turn of events, Dinesh Karthik got out stumped on the fifth ball but Nawaz ended up bowling wide which tied the game while R Ashwin hit the last delivery for a four to seal the deal for India.
For his masterful knock of 82 not out in 53 balls (6 fours and 4 sixes), Virat Kohli garnered rich praise from the Indian cricket fraternity on Twitter.
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