 "Rohit Sharma got to his half-century against Australia off just 19 balls. AP")
India staved off a spirited fightback from the Australian batters after Rohit Sharma blasted his way to 92 off just 41 balls, collecting another comprehensive victory in the Super 8s and marching into the T20 World Cup semi-finals unbeaten.
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The victory also helped the Men in Blue somewhat avenge the heartbreaking six-wicket defeat that they had suffered at the hands of the Pat Cummins-led Australian team in the final of last year’s ICC World Cup final in Ahmedabad.
India did so by posting a challenging total of 205/5 — their first 200-plus score of the tournament — and restricting Mitchell Marsh and Co to 181/7 in reply.
Travis Head, who had starred in Australia’s victory in the ODI World Cup final, produced yet another gem of a knock against the Indians as he smashed his way to 76 off just 43 balls.
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The southpaw’s dismissal off a slower ball from Jasprit Bumrah, however, proved to be something of a killing blow to Australia’s hopes of a victory, and the 2021 T20 world champions eventually fell well short of the 206-run target to suffer their second consecutive defeat.
Afghanistan had brought Australia’s winning streak in the tournament to a screeching halt with a stunning 21-run victory in St Vincent on Saturday.
Looking back at the events of the India-Australia encounter at the Daren Sammy National Stadium in Gros Islet, we take a look at some of the records broken and milestones achieved in the 51st match of the tournament:
Impact Shorts
More Shorts— Rohit Sharma is now the leading run-scorer in T20Is following his knock of 92. He first surpassed Virat Kohli’s tally of 4,103 runs and would later go past Pakistan captain Babar Azam’s tally of 4,145 runs.
— Rohit’s 19-ball fifty is now the fastest half-century in the 2024 T20 World Cup.
— Rohit’s monstrous 100-metre six off Pat Cummins’ bowling in the fifth over of the Indian innings was his 200th in T20Is, making him the first batter to the milestone.
— India brought up the team 100 in just 8.4 overs, the fastest by a team at the T20 World Cup.
— India’s score of 205/5 is the joint-highest by any team against Australia at the T20 World Cup. It’s also only their third 200-plus total at ICC’s showpiece T20 event.
— Arshdeep Singh’s dismissal of David Warner in the first over of the Australian chase took his wicket tally in the ongoing tournament to 13, breaking the record for most wickets by an Indian in a single edition of the T20 World Cup. RP had previously held the record for his 12 wickets in the inaugural edition in 2007.