In an innings that was a throwback to his peak unprecedented range as a white-ball batter, Rohit Sharma blitzed a 41-ball 92 as India registered a 24-run win over Australia at St Lucia. Travis Head was in his element too, like he was in the 2023 ODI World Cup final, but Kuldeep Yadav’s magical spell tied down Australia as their chase fizzled away once Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell fell, shortly followed by Head.
Where was the game won?
In the first half of India’s innings, thanks to Rohit’s assault. Despite the wind factor and St Lucia being a six-hitting ground, the surface wasn’t always straightforward to tee off, particularly against the older ball. This is why Rohit’s innings stood out. None of the batters in the game struck the ball as cleanly as the Indian captain did and his breathtaking assault on Mitchell Starc (shortly after Virat Kohli had perished for a duck) was a stamp of intent that blew Australia away. Australia did come back reasonably well in the second half but the total of 205 always seemed a bit above par.
INDIA
Powerplay: Rohit rips into Australia’s bowlers
Phase score: India 60/1 [RR: 10.00, 4s/6s: 5/5]
Put into bat, India had a shock start when Virat Kohli fell for a duck in the second over, extending his lean patch in the tournament. It was just the start Australia were searching for, until Rohit decided to counterpunch. And he counterpunch he did. Starc was hammered for a 29-run over that included four sixes and it was the passage of play that put India in the box seat. Rohit didn’t back down and his intent put severe pressure on the Australian bowlers.
Middle overs: India keep the momentum going
Phase score: India 102/3 [RR: 11.33, 4s/6s: 8/7]
Australia would have hoped to put the brakes on the scoring after the powerplay but Rohit wasn’t in any mood to relent. He did lose Rishabh Pant, who fell after a very scratchy innings, but Suryakumar Yadav came in to match his tempo with some crisp strokes. The four overs after the powerplay yielded 54 runs with boundaries coming thick and fast. Even the guile of Adam Zampa had no effect on India’s rampage. It took a punt from Marsh to bring Starc back that gave Australia some respite. The left-arm pacer removed both set batters in his successive overs to halt the bleeding of runs. However, India had gotten to a strong position by then.
Death overs: Australia do damage control but India end on a strong score
Phase score: India 43/1 [RR: 8.60, 4s/6s: 3/1]
After the dismissals of Rohit and Suryakumar, Australia managed to close out the innings reasonably well as only four boundaries were conceded in the last five overs. Josh Hazlewood finished off well to end an extraordinary spell amidst all the carnage while Pat Cummins also bowled effectively. Only the 19th over bowled by Marcus Stoinis proved very costly (14 runs) during this phase but otherwise, they managed to restrict India, who initially looked set for a 220-plus total.
AUSTRALIA
Powerplay: Warner falls but Head and Marsh motor along
Phase score: Australia 65/1 [RR: 10.83, 4s/6s: 7/4]
Much like their opponents, Australia also lost a big wicket early as David Warner perished in the first over of the chase to Arshdeep Singh. However, Head and Marsh counterattacked with precision, even taking 14 off a Jasprit Bumrah over in the powerplay. The assault, particularly on their premier bowler, clearly took India by surprise as they leaked runs in the first six overs. Both batters appeared to be in ominous touch once they got accustomed to the pace of the wicket.
Middle overs: Australia explode but Kuldeep-Axar produce game-defining moments
Phase score: Australia 76/3 [RR: 8.44, 4s/6s: 4/6]
The middle overs phase was a tale of two halves in itself. India needed the partnership to be broken and Axar Patel’s moment of magic at the deep square leg fence did just that. He timed his leap to perfection to take a sharp overhead catch when a maximum seemed inevitable. Maxwell, though, started with a bang and kept Australia afloat with Head as runs kept coming at a brisk pace. Kuldeep, though, had the last laugh as dislodged Maxwell who fell to a moment of brainfade and Axar then returned with the ball to remove Stoinis. From a position of extreme comfort, Australia imploded as India ended the middle overs phase on a high.
Death overs: India close out the game with aplomb
Phase score: 40/3 [RR: 8.00, 4s/6s: 1/2]
Much like the Indian innings earlier, Australia’s slog overs also tapered off. With wickets falling around him, Head also perished after having been left with too much to do. Australia could never recover from the mini-collapse between overs 10-15 and with Bumrah having two overs at the death, the asking rate was always going to be a mountain too high to climb. Axar, like he did in the game against Pakistan, bowled a fabulous 16th over, cramping Head like he had done to Imad Wasim in New York. It was an over that Australia needed to score big off and once that didn’t happen, the game quickly slipped away from them.
Brief scores: India 205/5 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 92, Suryakumar Yadav 31; Mitchell Starc 2-45) beat Australia 181/7 in 20 overs (Travis Head 76, Mitchell Marsh 37; Kuldeep Yadav 2-24) by 24 runs
What’s next?
India have booked their berth in the semifinals and according to the pre-tournament seeding, will play the second semifinal in Guyana where they will face England in a rematch of the 2022 semifinal between the two sides. Australia aren’t eliminated yet but they will need Bangladesh to beat Afghanistan to progress. An Afghanistan win or a washout will see the Asian side going through to the semifinal.
