On this day in 2016: Virat Kohli’s Mohali masterclass leads India to T20 WC Semi-final
Exactly on this day in 2016, Virat Kohli played one of his finest knocks in international cricket when he powered India to a thrilling win over Australia in Mohali. Kohli scored an unbeaten 82 off 51 balls to take India over the line. It was the last league game for both the teams and was a virtual quarter-final.
The winner of the match was going to book a place in the semifinal while the loser was going to exit the competition. It was Kohli who made the difference as his breathtaking display with the bat saw India beat Australia by six wickets in the thriller to book a place in the semifinal. Australia won a crucial toss and decided to bat first.
Their openers – Usman Khawaja and Aaron Finch – came out all guns blazing as the team from Down Under raced away to 53 in just 4 overs. Then, Australia kept losing wickets at crucial intervals but still managed to post a competitive total of 160 for 6 in the allotted 20 overs. Finch top-scored for them with 43 while Hardik Pandya was the pick of the bowlers from India, taking 2 for 36.
Chasing 161 for a place in the semi-final, India were off to a poor start. Nathan Coulter-Nile gave the Aussies the early breakthrough by dismissing Shikhar Dhawan before Shane Watson dismissed Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina in quick succession to leave India reeling at 49 for 3 in the eighth over.
The onus was on Kohli and veteran Yuvraj Singh to bail India out of trouble. The duo managed to stop the rut but could not guide India to a safe position as James Faulkner gave Australia a timely breakthrough by dismissing Yuvraj to reduce India to 94 for 4. Kohli, on the other end, was looking unfazed and was keeping India in the hunt.
The equation was finally down to 59 runs off the last five overs as Australia started strengthening their grip on the game. The future India captain launched a stunning assault and powered his team to a memorable win. Such was the attack from Kohli that India chased down the total with five balls remaining. India collected 20 runs from the 16th and 17th over to bring down the equation to 39 runs from 18 balls.
Kohli then upped the ante and hit two fours and six in the 18th over to help India collect 19 runs. In the penultimate over, he hit Coulter-Nile for four boundaries to collect 16 runs and bring down the equation to 4 off the last over. In the final over, Dhoni hit Faulkner’s first ball for a four to finish the thrilling game.
