Rohit Sharma scored a staggering 92 off 41 balls as India beat Australia by 24 runs and put England in danger of elimination in the T20 World Cup semi-finals.
Rohit hit eight sixes, including his 200th in T20 internationals, to reach fifty in just 19 balls and looked to be in line for a sixth hundred but was run out by Mitchell Starc, who hit four sixes and a four in the third over in St Lucia.
The captain’s performance helped India reach 205-5 and the 2007 champions might have been hoping to surpass that figure after posting 127-2 in the 11th over with Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav (31 for 16) coming to bat, but they could only manage 43 runs in the last five innings.
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Rohit Sharma batted brilliantly at Gros Islet, hitting eight sixes and seven fours.
Travis Head (76 off 43) was in fine form for Australia, leading his team to 125 for 2 after 12 overs. Head and captain Mitchell Marsh (37 off 28) shared a second-wicket partnership of 81 off 48 balls but the partnership was broken in spectacular fashion in the ninth over when Akshar Patel caught Marsh with one hand on the rope at deep square leg.
But Australia lost momentum when Glenn Maxwell (20 off 12 bats) was dismissed by Kuldeep Yadav (2-24) at the start of the 14th innings, and the 2021 champions could only score 181-7, leaving India top of Group 1 and set to face England in Guyana on Thursday (3.30 pm).
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Akshar Patel took the best catch in the T20 World Cup so far when he single-handedly smashed Mitchell Marsh.
Australia remain second in their pool but will be eliminated if Afghanistan beats Bangladesh in the final Super 8 match in St Vincent and the Grenadines on Tuesday (1.30am). Australia could also lose on net run rate to Bangladesh if the Tigers win big and move level with Australia and Afghanistan on two points.
South Africa will now wait to see which of the three teams progresses in the first semi-final in Trinidad (1.30am on Thursday). The Proteas sit top of Group 2, two points ahead of England.
Reigning champions England, who beat a timid India by eight wickets in the 2022 semi-final in Adelaide, now face a more aggressive team – and one who is unbeaten in the tournament – and captain Rohit is leading the change in mindset.
As things stand in Group 1 of the T20 World Cup, Australia need the final results of Afghanistan and Bangladesh to win
Rohit scores against India
After seeing opening partner Virat Kohli (0) caught at the pull-off by Josh Hazlewood (1-14) in the second over – Kohli has two ducks and a top-score of 37 in his six knocks this tournament at an average of 11 – Rohit exploded in the third over, hitting Starc (2-45) over cover, point, midwicket and deep third for sixes and one over mid-on for four.
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Virat Kohli holes out off Josh Hazlewood for his second no-run batsman in the T20 World Cup
He then smashed Pat Cummins for 100 over midwicket six minutes before the rain interruption and, after play resumed, held off America’s Aaron Jones and South Africa’s Quinton de Kock in 22 balls to reach the fastest fifty of the World Cup.
Rohit also tackled Marcus Stoinis (2-56) and hit three successive boundaries in the eighth over, including one deep backward square and one over the covers for a six, but was knocked out in the 12th over when he flicked a Starc york ball back onto the stumps.
Shivam Dube (28 off 22) smashed Starc’s next ball to the fence but India could only manage eight more sixes or fours from that point on. Hardik Pandya (27 off 17) hit two successive maximums off Stoinis in the 19th over. Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins (0-48) and Adam Zampa (0-41) kept the opposition at bay.
Australia lost veteran opener David Warner in the first over of their chase, likely his final game for the country. He smashed a ball from Arshdeep Singh (3-37) to Suryakumar at slip for a six, but Marsh and Head completed their fifty partnership.
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Australia’s scoring attack faltered as David Warner was hit for an early six.
Australia continued to attack for some time after Marsh was dismissed by Akshar’s brilliant play on the ropes, with Head hitting four off Hardik to reach his half-century off the 24th ball and Maxwell smashing three boundaries off Ravindra Jadeja in the 11th over.
But then Maxwell danced down Kuldeep’s pitch for a run and was run out before Stoinis reverse-swept Akshar to point and the innings fizzled. The only bright spot for Australia was that they kept their net run-rate above Afghanistan and remain second in the table for now.
What’s next?
Afghanistan to play Bangladesh on Tuesday in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (1:30 a.m. in the UK and Ireland). The semi-finals will be held on ThursdayThe first match will be played in Trinidad at 1:30am and the second match will be played in Guyana at 3:30pm.
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