ICC T20 World Cup 2022: Twitter goes berserk as Suryakumar's blitzkrieg propels IND to 186/5
India is facing Zimbabwe in the Super 12 of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in Melbourne on Sunday. Suryakumar Yadav's blitzkrieg took the Indians to a formidable total of 186/5, as Twitter went berserk.
Suryakumar Yadav reaffirmed his status as the world's number one Twenty20 (T20) batter with another gem of an innings, propelling India to 186/5 in its final 2022 ICC T20 World Cup Super 12 tie versus minnows Zimbabwe at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday. He hammered an unbeaten 55 off 24 deliveries, which included six fours and four sixes. The final five overs paid as many as 79 runs, most of which came from the Mumbaikar. The everyday ramp shot to guide left-handed pacer Richard Ngarava's full-toss behind the third man, the slog sweep behind square using the ball's pace or the arbitrary inside-out loft over extra cover off speedster Tendai Chatara, Surya oozed class with each shot.
But indeed, the unforgettable ones were the last over-slog sweeps off Ngarava, with SKY fetching the deliveries outside the off-stump, depositing them behind the deep fine leg. If that was not enough, he finished with a six over the fine leg. Zimbabwe's slow bowlers, left-arm spinners Wellington Masakadza, Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams, did a superb job between overs 7-15, bottling up the peerless Virat Kohli (26).
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But Surya and Hardik Pandya (18) contributed 65 in just 5.5 overs to discredit the excellent work of Craig Ervine's slow bowlers. Blessing Muzarabani, Ngarava and Tendai Chatara gave 138 runs in the 12 overs between them. The pull-shot, which brought a lot of laurels over the years, contributed to Rohit Sharma's (15) collapse again, as he was barely late to launch into a short ball from Muzarabani and was taken at square leg boundary.
Kohli trekked in purposely, and the maiden delivery by Muzarabani was clipped off his legs for a boundary. Still, the traditional hold your pose' shot was a short-arm whip of spinner Wellington Masakadza before getting stuck against the Zimbabwean spinners after the Powerplay. Veteran Williams eventually got rid of him when the batter came too close to the ball's pitch for a lofted drive and was caught at long-off.
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Having played a maiden over first up off Richard Ngarava, Rahul ultimately teed off with a six behind square off him. Since then, he looked like a different player before completing his second half-century of the tournament. A back-cut off Muzarabani gave him enough faith before launching into Ryan Burl's short-pitched balls. First, a six over long-on, and the second, slog-sweep, just falling inside the ropes.
A straight third six into the sight screen of a Sikandar Raza long-hop brought up Rahul's second 50 off 33 balls before going for a second one over long-off, leading to his failure. Rishabh Pant's (2) spirit after being dropped had dipped, and it displayed as he departed right before Suryakumar changed the course of the innings.
(With inputs from PTI)