The 2016 ICC T20 World Cup was hosted by India and perhaps saw the best knock by a batsman in the format while chasing down a substantial total. It came from the bat of none other than Virat Kohli and it was played against a formidable Australian team in a do or die match, one this day, March 27 in 2016.
The encounter was a virtual quarter-final as a win would ensure a semi-final place for either team. New Zealand had already qualified from the group and only one of Australia or India could go through.
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Steve Smith won the toss and chose to bat first at the PCA Stadium in Mohali, Punjab. Usman Khawaja (26) and Aaron Finch (43) added 54 quick runs for the first wicket and Aussies got a good start. But then Ravindra Jadeja and Yuvraj Singh bowled tight lines as middle order was choked for runs. Glenn Maxwell’s 31 and some late flourish took Australia to 160/6 in 20 overs.
Hardik Pandya picked 2/36, Yuvraj, Ashwin, Bumrah, and Nehra picked a wicket each.
Dhawan and Rohit couldn’t get India off to a flyer and then it became a one-man show with Virat Kohli as India was struggling at 49/3 in 8 overs. He along with Yuvraj Singh (21) added 45 for the fourth wicket but when the southpaw was dismissed, India still needed 66 runs in 36 balls.
He found a perfect foil in MS Dhoni and the two stole doubles from fielder's hands as Kohli continued to hit the odd boundaries here and there. The rate of 11 runs per over seemed gettable as quick running between the wickets made up for lack of boundaries. And then India needed 39 to win from 18 balls.
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This is when Kohli switched gears and went after the premier Australian bowlers as James Faulkner was hit for consecutive boundaries and a six. He took 19 runs from that over, with now 20 runs in 12 balls needed.
Nathan Coulter-Nile bowled the 19th over and might still think why he took the ball, as Kohli slammed him for four boundaries in five balls as India needed just one run to win in the last over. Dhoni completed the match by hitting Faulkner to the boundary and Kohli went down on his knees, exhausted from an effort that can be called the greatest innings in a chase in T20I.
India cruised to a 6-wicket victory with 5 balls to spare, with Kohli on 82* off 51 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes. This innings showed that he was ready to take over the title of chase master from MS Dhoni.
Here is the video of the match:
