One..two..three... & off they go
MUMBAI: It didn’t quite have the rhythm or raucousness of the ‘Sachin, Sachin’ chants that once resonated at the Wankhede Stadium. The cheers for ‘KL Rahul’ were occasional and awkward, but also well-earned. The Karnataka batsman outscored the more popular, and on the day dangerous, teammates Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to lead the Indian onslaught against the West Indies in the third and deciding T20I against the West Indies on Wednesday.
Two balls short of carrying his bat through, Rahul scored 91 runs as India plundered 240 for three off their 20 overs. Of those, 172 came in boundaries as the trio of Rahul, Sharma (71 off 34 balls) and Kohli (70 not out off 29 balls) dealt mainly in fours and sixes on a belter of a track. In reply, the West Indies ended at 173/8 to lose by 67 runs.
India and West Indies had shared the honours in the first two matches, with the team chasing winning the contest comfortably. India, having won only two of their last 10 T20I while batting first, batted like they had a point to prove. Having sussed out the opposition in the first two overs, Sharma and Rahul got stuck into the challenge. It was the perfect storm: purposeful batting, wayward bowling, sloppy fielding and an outfield that was electric fast.
The Indians raced full-speed past milestones; 50 in 4.1 overs, 72 at the end of power play, 100 in eight overs. West Indies captain Kieron Pollard, who has played at this ground for the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League for more than 10 years, tried to disturb the scoring rhythm with frequent bowling changes, but it failed to have much impact. Even the more conservative hitter Rahul wasn’t shy of using a trick of the Virender Sehwag playbook and edging the ball past third-man for boundaries. Meanwhile, Rohit, with his home crowd looking on, impressed with his daring shot making.
The only lull in the Indian innings, which was cruising at 12 runs per over till the 11th over, came when the team lost Rohit and Rishabh Pant in successive overs. The former top-edged the ball off Kesrick Williams to Hayden Walsh at deep mid-wicket in the 12th over. Pant, looking in a rush to cement his place in the Indian side, tried to hoist Pollard but was caught at long on for zero.
But while Rohit and Rahul had whipped up a storm with their opening partnership of 135, Kohli was the final wave that drowned them. The India captain was in the mood for slogging — he scored 35 runs through the mid-wicket area — and wasn’t shy showing his delight after muscling the ball over the boundary. He cracked seven sixes and four fours in his unbeaten knock, and stretched the Indian total almost beyond reach by helping score 27 runs off Pollard in the penultimate over.Rahul, meanwhile, played the perfect anchor but missed out on his century. He was out trying to hook Sheldon Cottrell in the final over, as the ball took the top-edge and flew to the wicket-keeper.
brief scores
India 240/3 in 20 ovs (Rahul 91, Rohit 71, Kohli 70 n.o) bt WI 173/8 in 20 ovs (Pollard 68, Hetmyer 41).