Virat Kohli hit 78 off 61 balls
Virat Kohli slammed a blistering unbeaten half-century as India crushed Pakistan by eight wickets in the high-voltage ICC World Twenty20 Super Eight clash in Colombo to keep themselves alive in the semi-final contention.
Virat Kohli plundered 78 off 61 with the help of eight boundaries and two sixes and shared a 74-run second-wicket stand with Virender Sehwag (29 off 24) as India overhauled the modest 129-run target with three overs to spare.
Diminutive off-spinner Raza Hasan dealt India an early blow by removing opener Gautam Gambhir for duck in the very first over but Virat Kohli and Sehwag undid the harm with their sagacious batting.
Initially the pair concentrated on rotation of strike but after building momentum propelled the ball past rope repeatedly.
Guiding India to 75-1 in 10 overs, Sehwag holed out to Umar Gul at long-off boundary off Shahid Afridi but dauntless Kohli continued the acceleration of flow of runs on board in the company of Yuvraj Singh (19 off 16).
Earlier, a disciplined Indian bowling bowled out Pakistan for a modest total of 128 in 19.4 overs.
Seamer Lakshmipathy Balaji (3-22), off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (2-16), and part-timer left-armer Yuvraj Singh (2-16) all were responsible for Pakistan’s calamity.
Pakistan failed to build momentum early from the innings as their wickets fell like pack of cards.
Slumping to 5-59 after the cheap dismissals of Imran Nazir (8), Shahid Afridi (14), Nasir Jamshed (4) and Kamran Akmal (5) and skipper Mohammad Hafeez (15) Pakistan were in deep trouble before Shoaib Malik (28 off 22) and Umar Akmal (21 off 18) give some respite by stitching up crucial 47 runs for the sixth wicket.
Seamer Irfan Pathan gave India crucial early breakthrough by claiming Imran Nazir in second over. Shahid Afridi’s nightmarish run with bat not came to an end as he holed out to Suresh Raina off Balaji in attempt to hit ball all the way.
Pakistan had not yet recovered from the back-to-back blows when Yuvraj’s double strike dragged Pakistan into deep glooms. He first edged Jamshed to MS Dhoni behind the wicket and then scalped Kamran in the similar fashion. Kohli got rid of skipper Hafeez in the next over.
Balaji removed Umar Gul (12) and Saeed Ajmal (1) off successive deliveries to wrap up the Pakistan innings.
Pakistan had defeated South Africa by two wickets in the Super Eights opener while India lost their opening game to Australia by eight wickets.
