Here's the full match report:
Sydney: Suryakumar Yadav bullied an inexperienced attack as the Indian team not for once took its foot off the pedal to thrash Netherlands by 56 runs for its second win in the T20 World Cup here on Thursday. A target of 180, riding on half-centuries from skipper Rohit Sharma (53 off 39 balls), Virat Kohli (62 not out off 44 balls) and Surya (51 not out off 25 balls), was good enough for the Dutchmen who were never in the contest once India's powerplay overs ended.
The 'Orange Brigade' huffed and puffed its way to 123 for nine in 20 overs as the relative slowness of the track post the Bangladesh-South Africa game effected its approach. The Netherlands was the fourth team to bat on the track, and although there wasn't any considerable wear and tear, it slowed down enough for Axar Patel (2/18) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2/21) to tighten the noose on the opposition batters.
On expected lines, Mohammed Shami (2/9), Arshdeep Singh (2/37) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/27) had an easy day at the office. Most of the Netherlands batters are not used to consistently playing an attack of this quality. Indian origin opener Vikramjit Singh (1), whose roots are in Punjab's Cheema Khurd, didn't look like he belonged to this level before Bhuvneshwar Kumar ended his painstaking stay with a perfectly pitched length ball.
Once Ashwin and Axar were pressed into the attack, there was no chance that the Duchmen would make a match of it. Axar didn't even turn a single delivery but the fast and tight wicket-to-wicket lines was good enough. When India batted, Suryakumar once again provided the final flourish with a breathtaking knock and overshadowed senior pros Kohli and Sharma. The Indian batting save all but one fired in unison as skipper Rohit became the pace setter, while the team's No. 1 batter Kohli played the role of an anchor to perfection and also ended as the game's top-scorer.
Kohli conjured two vital partnerships -- 73 for the second wicket with Rohit and 95 for the unbroken third wicket with Surya -- as KL Rahul's (9 off 12 balls) second successive failure stuck out like a sore thumb. But Rahul can consider himself a touch unlucky as right-arm seamer Paul van Meekeren's delivery angled into his pads and seemed like missing the leg-stump, but he was advised against taking the review by the skipper.
To be fair, the Netherlands bowlers did a reasonable job during the powerplay, when India scraped to 32 for one. India were 67 for one at the halfway stage, but after Surya came in, the Dutch bowling unit looked intimidated, and once Kohli started putting pressure there was no escape.
The back-10 yielded as many as 112 runs, courtesy Surya, who again hit some breathtaking shots including a lofted extra cover drive and a lap scoop over deep fine leg. With as many as seven boundaries and a six off the last ball in his kitty, Surya showed why he is India's most important batter in the format.
After opting to bat, Rohit initially struggled with his timing and left-arm seamer Fred Klaassen was unlucky that Tim Pringle made a hash of an easy catch when the Indian captain had mistimed a pull-shot. But once he connected a hook shot and then drove through the cover point region, he found some rhythm going his way, as the fifty came off 35 balls. His innings had four boundaries and three sixes.
While Rohit attacked, Kohli was happy to let him take the lead but remained alert while taking the singles and converting the ones into twos. Once Rohit was dismissed, Kohli showed some aggression as his running between the wickets put pressure on the Netherlands attack.
Kohli's fifty came off 37 balls, with three fours and two sixes. But he ran the opposition ragged before allowing Surya to pounce on them for a delicious run-feast.
Scoreboard of the T20 World Cup match between India and the Netherlands:
Netherlands Innings:
Vikramjit Singh b Bhuvneshwar 1
Max ODowd b Axar 16
Bas de Leede c Hardik Pandya b Axar 16
Colin Ackermann c Axar b Ashwin 17
Tom Cooper c (sub)Deepak Hooda b Ashwin 9
Scott Edwards c (sub)Deepak Hooda b Bhuvneshwar 5
Tim Pringle c Kohli b Shami 20
Logan van Beek c Karthik b Arshdeep Singh 3
Shariz Ahmad not out 16
Fred Klaassen lbw b Arshdeep Singh 0
Paul van Meekeren not out 14
Extras: (LB-2, W-3, NB-1) 6
Total: (9 wkts, 20 Overs) 123
Fall of Wickets: 11-1, 20-2, 47-3, 62-4, 63-5, 87-6, 89-7, 101-8, 101-9.
Bowler: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3-2-9-2, Arshdeep Singh 4-0-37-2, Mohammed Shami 4-0-27-1, Axar Patel 4-0-18-2, Hardik Pandya 1-0-9-0, Ravichandran Ashwin 4-0-21-2.
India Innings:
KL Rahul lbw b van Meekeren 9
Rohit Sharma c Ackermann b Fred Klaassen 53
Virat Kohli not out 62
Suryakumar Yadav not out 51
Extras: (LB-1, W-3) 4
Total: (2 wkts, 20 Overs) 179
Fall of Wickets: 11-1, 84-2.
Bowler: Fred Klaassen 4-0-33-1, Tim Pringle 4-0-30-0, Paul van Meekeren 4-0-32-1, Bas de Leede 3-0-33-0, Logan van Beek 4-0-45-0, Shariz Ahmad 1-0-5-0.
India beat Netherlands
Brief Scores:
India: 179 for 2 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 62 not out, Rohit Sharma 53, Suryakumar Yadav 51 not out; Paul van Meekeren 1/32).
The Netherlands: 123 for 9 in 20 overs (Tim Pringle 20; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/9, Axar Patel 2/18, Ravichandran Ashwin 2/21, Arshdeep Singh 2/37).
After 15 overs:
Netherlands are in all sorts of trouble, losing 2 wickets in this span of 5 overs. Ashwin dismissed Tom Cooper, who scored a painful 9 runs from 12 balls while he dismissed Ackermann, caught by Axar, for 17 runs from 21 balls. It looks more like an India game now as Netherlands batters are clearly struggling against a disciplined India bowling line-up.
After 10 Overs:
Having bowled and fielded brilliantly at the onset, Netherlands are struggling with the bat. Bas de Leede was dismissed by Axar Patel whom he tried to cut only to be deposited in Pandya's palms.
After 6 overs:
India got the start it was looking for at the end of the powerplay. Vikramjit Singh (1 off 9 balls) got bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar whereas Axar Patel cleaned up Max ODowd (16 off 10 balls). Bhuvneshwar needs a special mention as he bowled two maiden overs in the match, completely taking the Netherlands by surprise by keeping them restricted.
Let's get started with Netherlands chase
Completion of India's innings at the end of 20 overs:
Here's a full innings report:
Sydney: Suryakumar Yadav once again provided the final flourish with a breathtaking 51 not out off only 25 balls as he overshadowed senior pros Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in India's 179 for 2 against the Netherlands in a T20 World Cup match here on Thursday.
The Indian batting save all but one fired in unison as skipper Rohit (53 off 39 balls) became the pace setter while the team's No. 1 batter Kohli played the role of an anchor to perfection with a top-score of 62 not out off 44 balls. Kohli conjured two vital partnerships -- 73 for the second wicket with Rohit and 95 for the unbroken third wicket with Surya as KL Rahul's (9 off 12 balls) second successive failure stuck out like a sore thumb.
But Rahul can consider himself a touch unlucky as right arm seamer Paul van Meekeren's delivery angled into his pads seemed like missing the leg-stump but he was advised against taking the review by the skipper. To be fair, the Netherlands bowlers did a reasonable job during the Powerplay when India scraped to 32 for 1.
India were 67 for 1 at the halfway stage but once Surya came in, the Orange' bowling unit did look intimidated and once Kohli started putting pressure there was literally no escape. The back-10 yielded as many as 112 runs, courtesy Surya, who again hit some breathtaking shots including a lofted extra cover drive and the lap scoop over deep fine leg. With as many as seven boundaries and a six off the last ball in his kitty, Surya showed why he is India's most important batter in the format.
After opting to bat, Rohit initially struggled with his timing and left-arm seamer Fred Klaassen was unlucky that Tim Pringle made a hash of an easy catch when the Indian captain had mis-timed a pull-shot. But once he connected a hook shot and then drove through the cover point region, he found some rhythm going his way as the fifty came off 35 balls. His innings had four boundaries and three sixes.
While Rohit attacked, Kohli was happy to let him take the lead but remained alert while taking singles and converting the ones into twos. Once Rohit was dismissed, Kohli showed some aggression as his running between the wickets put pressure on the Netherlands attack. Kohli's fifty came off 37 balls, with three fours and two sixes but he ran the opposition ragged before allowing Surya to pounce on them for a delicious run-feast.
India scores 179-2
Suryakumar Yadav (51 off 25 balls) went ballistic in these five overs smashing sixes and fours while Kohli (62 runs from 44 balls) played classic shots to bring up his half century. The run on the crease have been a stand out, thanks to bigger Australian grounds and athletic Dutch fielders. The Netherlands bowlers used the slower balls well and Indian bowlers in the hut would take a cue on how to bowl on this pitch. SKY finished the proceedings with a scoop for six.
After 15 overs:
With skipper Rohit Sharma (53 runs off 39 balls) back in the hut soon after the completion of his half-century, Virat took the responsibility and hit a flighted delivery straight into the boundary. Rohit's dismissal also brought India's new sensation Suryakumar Yadav even as India looked to up the ante. India reached 100 with Surya's two boundaries off van Meekeren, one he whipped it at backward square leg, the other a classic cover drive. India will look to accelerate big time as the last five over approaches.
Suryakumar Yadav: 17 runs from 9 balls
Virat Kohli: 32 runs from 30 balls
After 10 overs:
A disciplined bowling performance by the Netherlands' bowlers hasn't really allowed India to break-free as Rohit and Virat seek to deal with the early blow in KL Rahul. Rohit is looking to up the ante as he did in the 10th over with a boundary and a six off Leede.
Rohit Sharma: 42 runs from 32 balls
Virat Kohli: 14 runs from 16 deliveries
After 6 overs:
India lost one wicket in KL Rahul (9 off 12 balls) while skipper Rohit Sharma (16 off 16 balls) and Virat Kohli (6 runs from 8 balls) are on the crease at the end of the powerplay. Rohit played some majestic shots including a hook in the deep square leg off Paul van Meekeren. Rahul has been struggling for form for a while now and was dismissed by Meekeren. The skipper and the hero of the last match, Virat, will look to consolidate the innings hereon.
Sydney: India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat against the Netherlands in their T20 World Cup match at the SCG here on Thursday.
Both India and Netherlands have fielded unchanged playing XIs.
Teams:
India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik(w), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh.
Netherlands: Scott Edwards(wk/c), Vikramjit Singh, Max ODowd, Bas de Leede, Colin Ackermann, Tom Cooper,Tim Pringle, Logan van Beek, Shariz Ahmad, Fred Klaassen and Paul van Meekeren.
