All eyes were gazed towards the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali where India and Australia locked horns in a bid to seal a semi-final spot. It was a winner takes all clash and the pressure was incredibly high for both teams.
India began their campaign with a shocking loss against New Zealand in Nagpur which placed them in dangerous territory. But, they bounced back strongly by thumping Pakistan in a high-voltage clash and just edged past Bangladesh in a nerve-wracking contest to keep their hopes up.
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On the other hand, Australia too started with a loss against New Zealand and they scraped past Bangladesh to set up another showdown with Pakistan. Steve Smith led from the front as the Aussies posted an emphatic victory to stay alive in the tournament.
Smith called correctly and predictably opted to make first use of a good batting surface as both teams went in unchanged. After a blazing beginning from the Australian batsmen, the Indian bowlers came back to thwart them from registering a massive total.
But, no total is safe when the opposition contains a bloke called Virat Kohli. Simply on a different level when compared to the other batsmen, the run-machine added yet another chase to his glowing collection as he made India reach the semi-finals.
Let us take a look at the five most memorable moments from the exciting contest in chronological order.
#1 – Nehra proves age is no barrier
Plenty of eyebrows were raised when Ashish Nehra was recalled to the Indian team in a format which suited younger legs. However, the veteran left-armer proved everyone wrong by performing consistently with the ball.
He was at it again when he was stood strong amidst some misfiring bowlers. Nehra began by conceding only four runs in his opening over even as Usman Khawaja and Aaron Finch were in a punishing mood.
Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin were hammered to all parts of the boundary as the crowd fell silent. With the scorecard reading 53/0 from 4 overs, India desperately needed a wicket to stem the leakage of runs.
MS Dhoni persisted with Nehra who responded to his skipper’s call by sending back the dangerous Khawaja. The angle away from the southpaw worked in the 36-year old's favor who swung the new ball to induce the edge and bringing his team back into the match. He returned in the death overs to provide a terrific end to his spell.
#2 – Aaron Finch‘s reply to the selectors
When Australia decided to drop the powerful Aaron Finch from their playing eleven, the Australian selectors clearly did not know who they were dealing with. After not doing much against Pakistan, the number one T20I batsman in the world would have wanted a befitting knock.
As Khawaja was unleashing a wide array of shots, Finch looked to give him the strike. But as Ashwin was introduced into the attack, he wanted to prove a point or two with regards to his ability to play spin.
The right-hander took on the guile of Ashwin and dispatched him for a couple of massive sixes which unsettled the off-spinner. He kept timing the ball which ensured that the innings moved along.
Just as he was settling down for a big one, Finch tried to pull a shortish delivery from Hardik Pandya and could only find Shikhar Dhawan at mid-wicket. Nevertheless, the stocky opener had built a solid platform for the lower-order hitters to capitalize on.
#3 – Not quite the final flourish
As the end-overs loomed, Glenn Maxwell was seeking to take Australia past the 180-mark. But, Bumrah had other ideas as he outwitted the swashbuckling batsmen with a slower delivery to bring a sigh of relief to his team.
Due to Dhoni’s ingenious use of Yuvraj Singh and Hardik Pandya in the middle-overs, he had plenty of options in the business stage of the innings. Realizing the fact that Ashwin was having an off-day, the talismanic leader opted to go for pace.
And, it paid off as his seam bowlers showed enormous fortitude to put the brakes on. The Australian batsmen struggled to deal with the multiple variations that the Indian bowlers had in their arsenal.
Pandya removed the aggressive James Faulkner to set the final over nicely for India. However, he proceeded to concede a few boundaries which meant that Australia managed to reach 160. Under batting-friendly conditions, the Indian bowlers had pulled things back with an admirable performance.
#4 – Are the Indian openers over-rated?
A lot has been said about India’s poor batting displays in the tournament, so far. The major reason behind India consistently finding themselves in a tricky situation has been the inability of their opening batsmen to set the tone.
The trend continued at Mohali too as Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma once again played irresponsible shots to leave their team reeling. The fact that they could not make use of a decent enough surface speaks volumes about their current form.
Dhawan had just played an effective pick-up shot for a massive six and continued to aim for the same region without accounting for the length. Nathan Coulter-Nile dug in a short ball which forced the left-hander to an ungainly position and he could only offer a simple top-edge.
Rohit followed suit by dancing down the track to Shane Watson and was done in by the change of pace from the all-rounder. For all the talk about his talent, he is not doing any justice by failing to adjust to different tracks.
#5 – Virat Kohli activates his ‘beast mode’ to outclass Australia
Virat Kohli seems to enjoy a run-chase like no other in world cricket. Sometimes it often seems like he reduces pertinent factors such as required run-rate, field settings and opposition bowlers to irrelevant entities when takes guard with a target in sight.
With wickets falling around him at critical moments, Kohli kept his calm and pierced the strike with unbelievable accuracy. Unmindful of Yuvraj Singh’s tryst with cramps, he soaked in the pressure and coaxed his senior partner to fight it out.
When Yuvraj fell after a gritty cameo, the star batsman took charge of the situation and punished even the good deliveries to the boundary. The laudable aspect was the risk-free approach and orthodox shots which was a testament to his sheer class.
After guiding India to the final four, Kohli sunk to his knees in emotion as the crowd stood and applauded a truly astonishing innings. Meanwhile, Australia were left wondering whether they ran into a man who was hell-bent on winning the match for his country.
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