Sydney: India beat the Netherlands by 56 runs and made their second win in the ongoing T20I World Cup 2022 on Thursday.
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, India scored 179 for 2, powered by the unbeaten fifties of Virat Kohli (62* off 44) and Surya Kumar Yadav (Sky) (51* off 25), while Rohit Sharma also made a half-ton (53 off 39).
But the Netherlands could make it only till 123, losing nine wickets.
In the first innings, India had a slow start and lost KL Rahul in the third over itself as he was caught before the wicket when he misjudged a ball. The Netherlands were expertly swinging the ball to both sides.
After Rahul, Kohli joined the bats with Rohit to kick India's scoring forward. The scoring was at a slow pace at the beginning. Rohit, though he wasn't at his best at that instant, was lucky after he got dropped, nearly caught and survived an LBW.
However, after the powerplay, Rohit found his footing and send to the fence and over the fence, too (4 boundaries and 3 sixes). After Rohit fell, Sky took the 'bat'on. He used his impeccable wrist work to hit three fours in his first seven balls, IANS reports. Sky contributed 7 fours and a six to reach his fifty. He seemed to give more confidence to Kohli, who also joined the party.
For the Netherlands, Fred Klaassen (1/33) and Paul van Meekeren (1/32) took one wicket each. Defending, pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/9) and Arshdeep Singh (2/37) and the spin duo of Axar Patel (2/18) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2/21) shone bright with the ball for India.
Brief Score:
India: 179 for 2 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 62 not out, Rohit Sharma 53, Suryakumar Yadav 51 not out; Paul van Meekeren 1/32).
The Netherlands: 123 for 9 in 20 overs (Tim Pringle 20; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/9, Axar Patel 2/18, Ravichandran Ashwin 2/21, Arshdeep Singh 2/37).
In another match, South Africa smashed Bangladesh for 101 rubs.