Rohit powers India into semis; Australia's hopes take a hit

Star of the Game The standout performer in the match

India will face off against England in the second semi-final match in Guyana after coming out victorious in all three of their Super Eight games.

India scored 205 runs with Rohit making 92 runs, while Hazlewood took 1 wicket for Australia. Australia scored 181 runs with Head making 76 runs, but Arshdeep took 3 wickets and Kuldeep took 2 wickets for India. India won the match by 24 runs.

Rohit Sharma is the key player who has helped India advance to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2024. He has been outstanding and has been consistent in his aggressive playing style even when it comes at a personal sacrifice. Although his efforts have gone unnoticed until now, he deserves recognition for his dedication. Hopefully, in five days, his hard work will pay off and he will lift the ICC trophy.

One bright morning in St Lucia, the captain of India hit 76 of his 92 runs in boundaries, putting Australia in a tough spot. He forced them to make mistakes and scored a total of 205 runs, setting new records along the way. This score was too much for Australia to overcome, even with their strong player Travis Head. It is rare for Australia to struggle like this, but they still have a chance to make it to the final four if Bangladesh can defeat Afghanistan (by not too large a margin) in their match in St Vincent later on Monday.

On November 19, he was expected to lead his team to victory but instead left the field with tears in his eyes. On June 24, he had a feeling that the pain might return when his partner Virat Kohli fell for a duck. While some may have hesitated, Rohit went on to score 29 runs off Mitchell Starc in one over. He reached 50 runs off just 19 balls in the fifth over, while the other end had only scored 2 off 13. India's total of 52 was the lowest score at which a player had scored a half-century in T20Is with ball-by-ball data available. Rohit was in top form that day.

Raise Your Pitch, Face Consequences

Australia made a mistake by playing into Rohit's strengths. Starc, for example, kept bowling full in an attempt to find swing and break stumps. However, this strategy backfired at the Daren Sammy Stadium. On the other hand, Josh Hazlewood showed a different approach by pitching up only twice with yorkers. His tactic paid off as he ended up with figures of 1 for 14. Rohit took advantage of this by playing front-foot shots 24 times, scoring 71 runs with most of his boundaries coming from those shots.

During six of the 11 overs that Rohit was on the field, he managed to score double digits. He was hitting the ball with the same finesse as he does in ODI matches, where he often reaches high scores. One memorable moment was when he went down on one knee and hit a six off Pat Cummins, who had recently achieved back-to-back hat-tricks. The ball thudded onto the stadium roof. Another impressive shot was when he confidently moved down the track to hit Marcus Stoinis for a boundary over extra cover. Although his attempt at a scoop shot turned into a pull shot instead, it was a new addition to his impressive range of shots. Everything Rohit tried seemed to work in his favor, even a simple defensive push to cover resulted in a misfield from Australia, allowing him to take an extra run.

During Rohit's time at bat, India hit ten fours and ten sixes. However, after he was out, they only managed to score nine of those combined. Credit must be given to Starc for this turnaround. In the 12th over, he changed his positioning on the pitch to prevent Rohit from hitting freely. While he still bowled with full force, he managed to reduce his pace which ultimately made a big impact. Starc's slower delivery resulted in Rohit being bowled out, and later took out Suryakumar Yadav as well, who was playing exceptionally. Cummins was unfortunate yet again when he bowled a ball that was close to being called wide, only to have it hit for a boundary by a home on the square-leg boundary.

During the cricket match, the Indian team did not hit any boundaries for 21 deliveries from the 15th to the 18th over. However, they made a strong finish as Hardik Pandya hit three sixes in the last two overs, helping the team achieve a total score of over 200.

David Warner was out early in the chase, raising concerns that this match might be his final one internationally after scoring only 6 runs off 6 balls. Despite this setback, Australia still had strong batters who could dominate the game. Mitchell Marsh showed his skills by hitting Arshdeep Singh for two fours and a six in one over, while Head also played well by hitting Jasprit Bumrah for boundaries. India had to switch to a different plan of using yorkers under pressure. By the end of the powerplay, Australia was ahead with 65 runs for 1 wicket. Marsh's powerful play and Head's ability to clear the field with his shots had completely changed the game.

India needed something extraordinary and it came in the form of Axar Patel. He was positioned a bit too close to the boundary at deep square leg, which seemed like a mistake given the power of Marsh at the crease. The ball was hit hard and flat in a slog sweep, looking like it would go for a six. Even a member of the support staff ducked for cover, thinking it would clear the fielder. But Axar wasn't going to let that happen. He jumped up, reached out with both hands, and managed to catch it with just his right hand. It was a catch that had to be made, and he did it. His teammates all rushed over to celebrate with him, as the partnership of 81 off 48 balls was finally broken against the flow of the game.

Glenn Maxwell was actively countering India's strong spinners. He noticed that Ravindra Jadeja did not have anyone at third man on the boundary, so he decided to play a reverse sweep shot, hitting against the wind but with the turn. Despite the challenging conditions, Maxwell managed to execute the shot well. He seemed to be in good form and ready to face Kuldeep Yadav. However, when he tried to attack India's wristspinner, he ended up getting bowled out. The googly delivery was so impressive that it completely deceived Maxwell. It was slower, shorter, turned the opposite way, and ultimately led to his dismissal. The skill and technique displayed by the bowler with that delivery were truly remarkable.

India took two wickets within the next three overs, including Bumrah tricking Head with his offcutter. Australia needed to score 53 runs in the last 18 overs, but they could only narrow the gap in the end.

Alagappan Muthu works as a sub-editor for ESPNcricinfo.

India emerged victorious with a margin of 24 runs.

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