Suryakumar Yadav once again provided the final flourish with a breathtaking 51 not out off only 25 balls as he overshadowed senior pros Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in India’s 179 for 2 against the Netherlands in a T20 World Cup match here on Thursday.
The Indian batting save all but one fired in unison as skipper Rohit (53 off 39 balls) became the pace setter while the team’s No. 1 batter Kohli played the role of an anchor to perfection with a top-score of 62 not out off 44 balls.
Kohli conjured two vital partnerships -- 73 for the second wicket with Rohit and 95 for the unbroken third wicket with Surya as KL Rahul’s (9 off 12 balls) second successive failure stuck out like a sore thumb.
But Rahul can consider himself a touch unlucky as right arm seamer Paul van Meekeren’s delivery angled into his pads seemed like missing the leg-stump but he was advised against taking the review by the skipper.
To be fair, the Netherlands bowlers did a reasonable job during the Powerplay when India scraped to 32 for 1.
India were 67 for 1 at the halfway stage but once Surya came in, the ‘Orange’ bowling unit did look intimidated and once Kohli started putting pressure there was literally no escape.
The back-10 yielded as many as 112 runs, courtesy Surya, who again hit some breathtaking shots including a lofted extra cover drive and the lap scoop over deep fine leg. With as many as seven boundaries and a six off the last ball in his kitty, Surya showed why he is India’s most important batter in the format.
After opting to bat, Rohit initially struggled with his timing and left-arm seamer Fred Klaassen was unlucky that Tim Pringle made a hash of an easy catch when the Indian captain had mis-timed a pull-shot.
But once he connected a hook shot and then drove through the cover point region, he found some rhythm going his way as the fifty came off 35 balls. His innings had four boundaries and three sixes.
While Rohit attacked, Kohli was happy to let him take the lead but remained alert while taking singles and converting the ones into twos.
Once Rohit was dismissed, Kohli showed some aggression as his running between the wickets put pressure on the Netherlands attack.
Kohli’s fifty came off 37 balls, with three fours and two sixes but he ran the opposition ragged before allowing Surya to pounce on them for a delicious run-feast.