ST LUCIA: India qualified for the T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final on Monday after beating Australia by 24 runs in their last match of Super 8 which was played at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in St Lucia.
India captain Rohit Sharma led from the front with a blistering 92 in a total of 205-5, with Australia finished with 181-7.
India will now play England in the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup on June 27 at Guyana’s Providence Stadium.
Chasing the target, Australia, had a terrible start as they lost David Warner in the first over. After losing the first wicket, skipper Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head combined for 81 runs putting their team in the driving seat again.
Marsh left the crease after scoring 37 off 28 with Axar Patel taking an absolute blinder on Yadav’s delivery. After the captain’s dismissal, Glenn Maxwell came but he, too, couldn’t play a solid innings and was bowled out by Yadav.
Despite wickets kept falling for Australia, Travis Head was still hitting the Indian bowlers. However, in the 17th over, Bumrah removed the left-handed batsman which was a massive blow for the Aussies.
Australia eventually finished their innings at 181-7 in the allocated overs. For India, Arshdeep Singh got three wickets, Yadav two while Bumrah and Axar picked one each.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma was the star for India as he scored 92 runs on 41 balls with the help of seven fours and eight sixes.
India poorly started their innings as Virat Kohli returned to the pavilion without scoring a run. However, the dismissal could not stop Sharma from playing attacking cricket. Sharma scored 29 runs in one over of Mitchell Starc where he hit four sixes and a four.
The 37-year-old was on his way to complete his but Starc’s yorker ended his innings. The 37-year-old became the leading run-scorer in T20Is and had hit the most sixes in T20 World Cup history.
After Sharma’s exit, Suryakumar Yadav played a quick 16-ball 31-run knock while Shivam Dube scored 28 off 22.
Hardik Pandya provided a crucial 27 runs off 17 deliveries and helped India to score 205-5 in 20 overs.
Playing Squads
Australia: 1 Travis Head, 2 David Warner, 3 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Tim David, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood.
India: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Virat Kohli, 3 Rishabh Pant (wk), 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Arshdeep Singh, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Jasprit Bumrah.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
