Srinagar: On the back of another half century by Virat Kohli, half century from Rohit Sharma, and fireworks Suryakumar Yadav, India registered comfortable win against Netherlands at the Sydney Cricket Ground, on Thursday.
Winning the toss and batting first, India lost their opener KL Rahul relatively early. Netherlands bowled with great discipline in the Powerplay, restricting India to a score of 32/1.
But skipper Rohit Sharma then opened up his arms, bringing up a half-century. He would soon depart after bringing up his milestone, getting out for a 39-ball 53.
Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav then upped the aggression, with the former, bringing up consecutive half-centuries in the tournament after his memorable knock against Pakistan. He was well-supported by Yadav, who also played some brilliant shots, bringing up his half-century off the final ball.
Kohli scored a 62* off 44, while Yadav finished up with a 25-ball 51*, as India ended their innings at a score of 179/2 in their 20 overs.
In reply, Bhuvneshwar Kumar proceeded to bowl two maidens including a wicket to kick start things for India. India introduced spin early and found success with it as Axar Patel sent back Max O’Dowd off the second ball of the fifth over.
Bas de Leede and Colin Ackermann revived the innings a tad, albeit at slow pace, before Axar struck again to dismiss the former. Ashwin then further piled on Netherlands’ woes by dismissing Ackermann and Tom Cooper in the same over.
Netherlands never really recovered from that point, ambling along to 123/9 as India sealed a win by 56 runs to push their net run rate up to +1.425.
Courtesy: ICC