IND vs NED Review: Kohli, Suryakumar and Rohit’s fifties guide India to a big win
India registered an easy and big 56-run win over the Netherlands in their second T20 World Cup 2022 match on Thursday (October 27). Indian batters Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Suryakumar Yadav scored brilliant fifties to put a big 180-run target for the Netherlands while batting first. Then Axar Patel and Bhuvneshwar Kumar restricted Netherlands to just 123/9 in 20 overs.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bat first at Sydney Cricket Ground with no changes to the playing eleven that beat Pakistan in their opening game. India lost their star opener, KL Rahul, early on Paul van Meekeren’s delivery in the third over but Rohit and Virat Kohli avoided further early fall. Rohit ended his poor run of form and scored 53 runs off 39 balls before getting out in the 12th over. Kohli then formed a brilliant unbeaten 95-run partnership for the third wicket with Suryakumar with attacking cricket all over the ground.
The Netherlands, while chasing a challenging total, struggled against star Indian bowling unit from the start. Veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar started with a maiden over and bowled out opener Vikramjit Singh in his next over. Bas de Leede and Colin Ackermann then formed a little but crucial 27-run partnership for the third wicket to keep the Netherlands alive in the chase. But Axar removed de Leede in the tenth over and the Dutch side never recovered from that.
Top performers from the match:
Virat Kohli:
The in-form Indian batter scored unbeaten 62 runs off 44 balls with the help of three fours and two sixes. He first formed a 73-run partnership for the second wicket with Rohit and then a defining 95-run partnership with Suryakumar for the third wicket.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar:
The experienced medium-pacer gave India a start they needed to avoid any surprise reply from the Dutch top order. He bowled two maiden overs and took a big wicket of opener Vikramjit Singh. Then he came to bowl in death overs and dismissed captain Scott Edwards in the 17th over.
What’s next for both teams?
India next face South Africa in their third Super 12 round fixture scheduled at Perth Stadium on October 30 and Netherlands clash against Pakistan at the same venue on the same day in an afternoon fixture.
