In the 51st match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, India defeated Australia by 24 runs at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, St Lucia.
Australian captain Mitchell Marsh won the toss and asked India to bat first. While Virat Kohli once again got out for a duck, Rohit Sharma (92), from the other end, went all guns blazing. The Indian skipper had a thunderous outing, with a strike rate of over 224, including seven fours and eight sixes. Indeed, the fans got to know what damage Rohit can cause if he bats beyond the powerplay in a highly intense match. The 37-year-old also had an 87-run partnership with Rishabh Pant, of which the latter batter only contributed 15 runs. Notably, the captain also had a smacking over of 28 runs against Mitchell Starc. There were other notable contributors too, which included Suryakumar Yadav (31), Shivam Dube (28), and Hardik Pandya (27*). While Dube had a decent outing, Pandya and SKY were quite aggressive in their approach, which helped them take India over 200 runs.
Chasing 206, the Aussies lost David Warner in the first over itself and luckily for them, India lost a few half chances to grab a couple of more wickets in the powerplay. Travis Head (76) and Mitchell Marsh (37) had a counter-attacking play, which put a lot of pressure on Indian bowlers. Both batters had an incredible partnership of 87 runs, which was later broken by Kuldeep Yadav. The Aussies lost momentum and further kept on losing wickets at regular intervals, which hampered their winning chances. Glenn Maxwell (20) and Tim David (15) also got a few runs but it was already curtains for the Men in Yellow.
While defending, Arshdeep Singh delivered an exceptional performance, taking three wickets. Kuldeep Yadav also took two wickets, while one wicket each was also secured by Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel.
With the ball for the Aussies, Mitchell Starc and Marcus Stoinis grabbed two wickets each, while one wicket was also taken by Josh Hazelwood.
Rohit Sharma was adjudged Player of the Match for his electrifying batting show. Following this win, India will now head to Guyana, where they will meet England in the semi-finals.
Scorecard:
India: 205/5, Overs 20, Rohit Sharma 92, Mitchell Starc 2/45
Australia: 181/7, Overs 20, Travis Head 76, Arshdeep Singh 3/37