Virat Kohli was cautious in his approach while Axar Patel was the enforcer as India recovered from early jitters to score 176 for 7 against South Africa in the T20 World Cup final on Saturday. At 34 for three, India were facing another batting failure in a grand final before Axar (47 off 31) and Kohli (76 off 59) turned the tide for them. Axar was run out unhappily, completely against the run of play, which put an end to his 72-run off 54-ball partnership with Kohli. Kohli slowed down considerably in the middle of the game to score his first 50 of the tournament off 48 balls.
– 72* (44) in the 2014 Semi Final.
– 77 (58) in the 2014 final.
– 89* (47) in the 2016 Semi Final.
– 50 (40) in the 2022 Semi Final.
– 78 (59) in the 2024 final.VIRAT KOHLI – THE MAN ON THE BIG STAGE…!!!! pic.twitter.com/sJYm8IRgej
-Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) June 29, 2024
Rohit Sharma (9) had no hesitation in batting first at Kensington Oval, where the pitch has not been the easiest to bat on during the competition.
Virat Kohli in the World Cup finals pic.twitter.com/ICVYd3GQAO
– Sagar (@sagarcasm) June 29, 2024
The Indian captain, who was on a two-game winning streak, departed early after hitting a couple of consecutive fours from Keshav Maharaj in the final second of the game.
Always the REIGGGG
good job @imVkohli
#INDvSA #T20WorldCup #CricketTwitter
-DK (@DineshKarthik) June 29, 2024
Maharaj responded well by getting Rohit caught at square leg as the batsman attempted a sweep. Rohit and batsman Rishabh Pant fell in the sweep.
It entered as the hope of 1.3 billion and left leaving 1.3 billion happy hearts.
That’s Virat Kohli for you. pic.twitter.com/d0tiqbh5lW
-Kevin (@imkevin149) June 29, 2024
The tension in the Indian camp increased when Suryakumar Yadav, who also has good touch like Rohit, was caught at fine leg after failing to get enough off his shot off Rabada, leaving India three down in the powerplay.
At 45 for three in six overs, it was the slowest powerplay for India in the Caribbean leg.
Watching the wickets fall at the other end, Kohli, who hit three elegant boundaries off Marco Jansen to open the final, switched gears during the middle overs and let Axar create an awkward boundary.
Such was the nature of Kohli’s knock that his first big hit after the powerplay, a consecutive six from Rabada, came in the 18th over over Axar, on the other hand, potentially played the innings of his T20 career and negotiated the South African spinners effectively, collecting sixes, from each of Aiden Markram, Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi. However, the highlight of his special knock was the six straight down the line from Rabada.
Between 7 to 15 overs, India added 72 as Axar lost, who suffered a direct hit from keeper Quinton de Kock at the non-striker’s end. Kohli was pressing for a single rising ball from Rabada and de Kock with a clean one-handed catch, hit the target.
Shivam Dube (27 off 16), who reached mid-on before the start of the death over, played some timely blows to sustain the total.
Kohli also anchored to hit a couple of sixes in the last five overs, of which India got 58 runs for the loss of three wickets.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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