Old foe, new hero, same result
SIXTH IN A ROW Virat century leads India to their sixth WC win over Pakistan and flying start to campaign MATCH BOX QUICK FACTS VIRATSAYS
ADELAIDE: It seems Virat Kohli can do no wrong at the Adelaide Oval. In three matches here, including two Tests, he has now scored four centuries.
There was a sudden dry patch during the tri-series in Australia also featuring England, and Sunday’s innings was at times scratchy. But riding on two dropped catches, the first one a difficult chance when he was on three, the Test skipper posted his 22nd one-day century, the 20th to result in a victory for India.
There was a certain aura of self-belief when Virat batted in the nets on Saturday. He was middling the ball well and the question was whether he would carry that into the middle at a time when the team’s fortunes were not going North and against an opponent to whom they can never afford to lose.
A break before the World Cup for meditation and to spend time at a spa near here seems to have made a difference and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the time off from cricket has really freshened up the entire squad.
An uppish shot towards longon almost carried to Yasir Shah but that reprieve acted as a wakeup call.
SHOWING LEADERSHIP
In the previous five victories over Pakistan in the World Cup, it was Sachin Tendulkar who invariably emerged the hero, finishing as Man-of-the-Match in three of them, including the semifinal win in 2011. It was Kohli’s turn on Sunday to play the role of the new batting leader.
Immediately getting into the role he was assigned to — that of a sheet anchor — following the early dismissal of Rohit Sharma, Virat took charge, rotating the strike with Shikhar Dhawan.
The left-right combination made it all the more difficult for the Pakistan bowlers on a drop-in wicket that was good and true.
Although Kohli was outstanding with the bat during the Test series, he had struggled on the England tour against the swing and pace of James Anderson and Co. The assessment by the experts was that his weak area was outside off-stump. To their credit, the Pakistan bowlers kept the ball up and outside off-stump, but Kohli was alert and let many of the deliveries go through. The one occasion, he was drawn into nicking, Umar Akmal did him a favour.
Soon the punches through the covers were back and playing alongside him, Shikhar, who had been struggling for form and had been in and out of the side, oozed confidence.
The shouts of “Kohli, Kohli” are more common these days since the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar, and when asked about it at the post-match presentation ceremony, Kohli said: “That’s a huge compliment and this is by far my best.”
He is currently the crowd favourite and on Sunday throughout the Pakistan innings he kept urging the stands to keep up their tempo. A cheeky confrontation with Pakistan pacer Sohail Khan, who took a fifer, that too when Pakistan had all but lost the match, seemed avoidable. But then that is Virat and the crowd lapped it up. He, however, took it with a smile after Shahid Afridi’s throw struck him on the back.
Kohli’s only other century against Pakistan was in the Asia Cup in Dhaka in 2012 when scoring 183 he helped India successfully chase 330. But the sheer enormity of the stage itself makes Sunday’s knock memorable.
“I felt after we lost Rohit, the partnership between Virat and Shikhar was really crucial because the ball was doing a bit. I felt they bowled really well. But once the partnership got going, they played some really good shots to put the pressure back on the bowlers,” Dhoni said. 300 Runs 250 200 150 100 50 Runs Caution was the word as Rohit and Dhawan looked to see off the pace threat of towering Mohammad Irfan, picking the odd boundary. Rohit is beaten by extra bounce to miscue to be caught at mid-off. 28/1 Overs 5 46/1 21/0 Kohli’s is only the second ton in six WC matches between the two, after Saeed Anwar in 2003. His 107 is the first century by an Indian batsman against Pakistan in World Cup.
Kohli’s 22nd ODI ton moves him to joint fourth with Sourav Ganguly for most ODI centuries
Kohli’s knock surpassed Sachin Tendulkar’s 98 at Centurion in 2003, the highest by an Indian against Pakistan in a WC game.
Out of India’s 6 straight wins over Pakistan in the World Cup, five have come while batting first. 42/1 10 71/1 15 67/1
It was all about consolidation as Dhawan and Kohli work the ball around for singles, rotating the strike. Their 129-run stand featured 10 fours. Later Raina settled down quickly. 98/1 92/2 20 c Misbah b Sohail Khan Miscues pull to mid-on 131/1 105/5 25 165/2 15 (20) (4x2)
73 (76) (4x7, 6x1) India 132/5 30
192/2 Cut to point 35 Brilliant fightback by Pakistan pacers Sohail Khan and left-arm Wahab Riaz as India managed just 27 runs while losing five wickets. Sohail took a fifer, three in six deliveries, including two for four runs in the last over. Still India reached the morale-boosting 300 mark. 217/2 154/7
Pakistan 194/7
India managed only 25 runs in the batting Powerplay overs, but did not lose a wicket. Raina then attacked leggies Afridi and Yasir Shah, cashing in after Misbah-ul Haq erred by bringing on spinners at the wrong time. 40 273/2 c Jadeja b Yadav
c Dhoni b Shami Fends a short ball 220/8 45 300/7 224 all out 50 47 (73) (4x5)
6(10) (4x1) TEAMS M W L P NRR
POOL A Aus
NZ
SL
Eng POOL B India 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 2 +2.22 2 +1.96 0 0 -1.96 -2.22 0 2 +1.52