ADELAIDE: T20 World Cup: Virat Kohli set a new record for most runs scored in T20 World Cups with an unbeaten 64 off 44 balls, while KL Rahul recovered from a sluggish start with a 32-ball 50 to lead India to a commanding 184/6 over Bangladesh in their Super 12s Group 2 encounter on Wednesday.
Rahul was graceful in his stroke-play, smashing three fours and four sixes at a strike-rate of 156.25 to regain his form on a pitch where bowlers found spongy bounce and swing.
he also shared a 67-run partnership off just 37 balls for the second wicket. Kohli, who has been on fire throughout the tournament, blasted eight fours and a six at a strike rate of 145.45.
The pair had more support from Ravichandran Ashwin's cameo of 13 unbeaten and Suryakumar Yadav's 16-ball 30, the new top-ranked T20I batter. Shakib Al Hasan, the captain of Bangladesh, and bowler Hasan Mahmud each grabbed two wickets for 33 runs in their respective four overs.
Rahul was forced to bat first and immediately appeared out of sorts, playing and missing a few deliveries in the first two overs. But Rahul got going after Shoriful Islam hit an amazing pick-up shot into the deep square leg boundary for six.
Rahul was unfazed in targeting Hasan Mahmud, even though Rohit Sharma sliced uppishly straight to gully off the pacer just one over after the bowler had dropped the Indian captain at fine leg.
He sliced him over third base for four runs before hitting the game-winning square cut that went flat over cover point for six runs.
From the other end, Kohli attempted to challenge Taskin Ahmed by launching a series of goals off the outside edges past fielders in the cover and slip positions. In the ninth over, Kohli and Rahul scored 24 runs off Shoriful after scoring a four from Mustafizur Rahman and Shakib Al Hasan, respectively.
Rahul stood tall to hit a length ball, known as a no-ball, over long-on for six after Kohli launched the over with a beautiful straight drive for four. He sliced high over deep point for six on the following legal ball before diving deep into the crease to swipe past point for four.
Rahul would eventually reach his fifty in 31 balls, however in the tenth over, when attempting to lap off Shakib, he was caught out by short fine leg who took a straightforward catch. When Mahmud bowled in the 13th over, Suryakumar tore at him, lofting drives over extra cover twice before slicing a drive over backward point for three fours in a 14-run over. Suryakumar got things going by flaying a cut over point off Shakib.
In the 14th over, Shakib threw a slower ball on length that Suryakumar attempted to cut but missed, shattering his stumps and ending his dazzling performance. By hitting Rahman for two consecutive fours at the conclusion of the fifteenth over, Kohli kept the pace going.
Despite having no partners from the other end, Kohli pushed on to score his third fifty of the match in 37 balls. Dinesh Karthik was run out, Hardik Pandya selected backward point, and Axar Patel chipped a catch to cover.
In the 19th over, Kohli faced Mahmud and swivelled off his wrists to drive a four over deep square leg. He then finished the over with a miraculous six that came off the straight bat lofted down the ground. 27 runs were scored in the final two overs, including six runs from Ashwin who pulled Shoriful over deep square leg in the final over.
Brief scores: India 184/6 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 64 not out, KL Rahul 50; Hasan Mahmud 3/47, Shakib Al Hasan 2/33) vs Bangladesh.
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