T20 WC: Shivam Dube's stellar show on tricky Ahmedabad pitch

All-rounder Shivam Dube's stellar 66 off 31 balls helped India beat Netherlands by 17 runs. Dube said the tricky Ahmedabad pitch required balancing pressure with patience, expressing confidence in his ability to accelerate after a slow start.

India's star all-rounder Shivam Dube, after his stellar performance against the Netherlands in the ongoing T20 World Cup, said the Ahmedabad pitch was tricky, low, skidding and even turning at times, so he had to balance pressure with patience. Dube expressed confidence in his batting, saying that even after playing dot balls at the start, he trusted he could catch up later, focusing on rotating the strike before unleashing boundaries and sixes when the situation allowed.

A brilliant all-round performance from Dube and a fine spell from Varun Chakravarthy helped India end the group stage of the ICC T20 World Cup unbeaten, with a 17-run win over a valiant Netherlands at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium on Wednesday.

Dube on tricky Ahmedabad pitch

"It was a little tough on the wicket, but this is the situation I love to bat in, and I was enjoying it, although I was under pressure at some time, but the off-spinner bowled really well for me and four dot balls, a good over from my side, but I knew that I'm gonna cover later. It was, skidding as well as it was keeping low. One of the balls spun as well. So for me, it was like, yes, I could hit him, but at that moment, the situation demanded something else. So I have to play at that time. I tried to hit boundaries. I tried to hit six. I enjoy hitting sixes, but the situation demands the bowler is good," Dube said after the match.

Maiden T20 WC fifty and crucial partnership

Dube slammed his maiden fifty in the T20 WC in just 25 balls. Dube smashed 66 runs off 31 balls, including 4 fours and 6 sixes. Dube, along with Hardik Pandya, stitched a brilliant partnership of 76 for the fifth wicket.

India enters Super Eight unbeaten

With this win, India make it four wins in four matches in the group stage and head into the Super Eight with winning momentum.

The Netherlands bow out of the tournament with a win and three losses, two of them being extremely close losses against India and Pakistan. The Dutch can surely take a lot of pride in the way their campaign went and in how challenging they were for both Asian sides.

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