CHENNAI: A captain's innings of 57 by Rohit Sharma and an equally valuable 47 by Suryakumar Yadav propelled India to 171/7 in 20 overs against England in the semifinals of the T20 World Cup played at Guyana on Thursday. Put into bat, India had a disastrous start as they lost Virat Kohli cheaply. Kohli's poor technique against left-arm fast bowlers was once again exposed by Reece Topley.
The lanky Topley, pitched one on a good length that shaped back slightly into the right-hander. Kohli stayed leg-sided and was then looking to shovel it over mid-wicket, but was beaten by the movement and the ball flicked the top of leg-stump. Thus Topley got the prize wicket as Kohli took the long walk back into the den.
India were reduced to 19 for 1. From then on skipper Rohit Sharma was keen to forge a partnership with in-form Rishabh Pant, but was in for a rude shock. Pant was eager to flick a ball on the off peg over mid wicket but was caught at midwicket.
These twin stikes put Indian on the backfoot as one could see the pain on Rohit Sharma's face. Rohit was at ease playing the fast bowlers as well as the spinners. He used his feet well and one can see from his body language that he wanted to play with responsibility.
Rohit was judicious in his shot selection and chose the right ball to attack. He picked boundaries at will, be it of Topley or Adil Rashid. Suryakumar Yadav joined Rohit and showed good intent.
His six off Jordan was a delight to watch. Jordan bowled a short of a good lengt.
