 "Kuldeep Yadav celebrates the wicket of Glenn Maxwell during India's T20 World Cup match against Australia. AP")
Team India qualified for the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 World Cup with a 24-run win over Australia in their Super 8 Group 1 match in St Lucia on Monday. The loss, Australia’s second of the Super 8 stage, also means that they are now heavily dependent on Bangladesh to beat Afghanistan in the final Super 8 match later on Monday (Tuesday morning in India).
Australia won the toss and opted to field first against India. The Aussies got off to a best possible start, with Josh Hazlewood removing Virat Kohli (0) in the second over.
However, skipper Rohit Sharma (92) and Rishabh Pant (15) forged an 86-run stand for the second wicket to take India back in the game. Rohit got to his fifty in just 19 balls, hitting four fours and five sixes.
India were 127/3 at one stage but Suryakumar Yadav (31), Hardik Pandya (27) and Shivam Dube (28) played crucial knocks to take the Men in Blue to 205/5.
In their run chase, Australia got off to a forgettable start with Arshdeep Singh removing David Warner in the very first over. Warner was caught by Suryakumar Yadav at first slip.
Travis Head, Australia’s star of the 2023 ODI World Cup final, led the fightback with a knock of 76. However, Head was dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah in the 17th over. He was involved in an 81-run stand with Mitchell Marsh for the second wicket.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsOnce Head was dismissed in the 17th over, Australia’s hopes of chasing down the total slowly faded away. Athe 2021 champions were 150/5 at the time.
Mitchell Marsh, meanwhile, scored 37 off 28 balls.
Kuldeep Yadav removed Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell and was economically brilliant with figures of 2/24.
The defeat leaves Australia’s hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals hanging in the balance. The Aussies are in second place with two points from three matches, and should Afghanistan beat Bangladesh on Monday night, Australia would be eliminated from the T20 World Cup.