South Africa yet again failed to get the chokers tag off their back as India walked into the final of the ICC T20 World Cup at Mirpur in Bangladesh. It was a clinical performance from Indian batters as they chased down a steep target of 173 with 6 wickets in hand and 5 balls to spare. Virat Kohli produced yet another gem of an innings to guide India over the finishing line. All other batsmen played important knocks and gave the support that Kohli needed to ensure India’s victory.
Earlier in the evening South Africa winning the toss decided to set India a target to chase down. Their plans did pay off as they played the Indian spinners very well to set up a total of 173/4 at the end of 20 overs. Faf du Plessis played a captain’s knock scoring 58 of 41 balls and was well supported at the other end by in-form JP Duminy, who played a patient innings of 45 from 40 balls. AB de Villiers, who seemed to be the biggest threat for the Indians, succumbed cheaply to some intelligent bowling from Ravichandran Ashwin for just 10 runs. David Miller played a cameo of 24 from just 13 balls to take SA’s score past 170. Ashwin was the pick of the Indian bowlers as he returned with match figures of 4-0-22-3, those three wickets being of Hashim Amla (22), a dangerous looking Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers. Mishra, on the other hand, struggled to get going this night and gave away 36 in just 3 overs.
As India came on to chase down the target of 174, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane gave just the right start that India would have wanted from their openers. At the end of 6 overs of powerplay India was well past the 50-run mark with the loss of 1 wicket. Rohit made a quickfire 24 of just 13 balls to set the platform for the rest to come on and cash in. And 
India had just the right man for such a situation-Virat Kohli. He ensured that the required run rate never got out of reach by picking ones and twos when hitting boundaries was getting a bit tougher. He played through the Indian innings and ended up on 72 from just 44 balls. Suresh Raina also played an important innings of 21 runs in just 11 balls that made things easier for Kohli. And in the end when he hit the winning runs of Dale Steyn his expression said it all-India has made it into another final.
India is now left with one match. One more win and history will be created. India will become the first team to win the T20 World Cup for the second time. But to reach there they have got to get past the hurdle of Sri Lanka on their way. It will perhaps be the biggest test for the Indian team as the Lankans are in great touch and probably the best team other than India in this tournament. Sri Lanka will surely come hard at the Indians keeping in mind that it will be the stage for a revenge of the 2011 WC final defeat. Who will be the eventual winner-India or Sri Lanka? We will have to wait till Sunday night.
Tags: AB De Villiers Ajinkya Rahane Suresh Raina Amit Mishra Ashwin David Miller Dhoni Faf Du Plessis Hashim Amla India beat SA in semifinal India vs Sri Lanka in T20 final JP Duminy Rohit Sharma T20 T20 world cup Virat Kohli
