In India’s pursuit of 187 in the third T20I match against Australia in Hyderabad on Sunday, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav batted wonderfully. Even when the latter was dismissed for a disastrous 69, Kohli smashed a flawless six off Pat Cummins, and it appeared as though he and Hardik Pandya would easily lead India to victory. Australia put pressure on India, though, and the game went into the last over with India requiring 11 off of the final six balls. To relieve some strain, Kohli smashed a six off the opening ball of the 20th over, but he was bowled the very next ball. But Hardik made sure India won the game with one more ball.
Following the game, Kohli acknowledged that only a couple of his shots after Suryakumar’s dismissal failed to connect, and he said that the game shouldn’t have continued for as long as it did. “You spoke about the last over. It was kind of that situation because of me not being able to connect a few before that. The game shouldn’t have gone on that long and we should have probably (had) 4 or 5 to chase in the last over and not 11,” Kohli said.
“So it was important to maintain my composure and get one boundary at least for the team and I was able to do so and I am grateful for that,” he added. His final score of 63 off 48 balls gave Kohli his 33rd half-century in T20Is. India won the series against Australia 2-1 and is now preparing for their final T20 International assignment before the 2022 T20 World Cup, which begins next month. They will host South Africa for three T20 Internationals.
