The http://www.senore.com/Cricket/V-Kohli-c2737 show and his misfortune – Feature
Yesterday was the Virat Kohli show against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755, as he caressed his way to the most beautiful innings of 183 runs that has ever been witnessed. It was flawless, determined and never for a moment did the young Kohli looked haggled by the Pakistani bowlers.
India won the match with consummate ease, chasing 330 runs to win in Mirpur and with that they can qualify for the finals.
India came into this game at the back of a loss against the hosts http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 and if they had any chance of qualify for the finals, they had to win this crucial tie against arch-nemesis Pakistan. It was not going to be easy but they made it look as easy as
snatching candy from a baby.
Pakistan batted first and put up a daunting 330 for the Indian’s to win. They lost http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SR-Tendulkar-c2556 and Kohli combined for a 133-run
partnership, which was ended by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Saeed-Ajmal-c87859, giving Pakistan hope. That’s all it was.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RG-Sharma-c2309 joined Kohli in the centre and after that it was all India. They played with simplicity, not trying any unorthodox shot, demonstrating that with text-book selection, and playing in the proverbial V, runs can easily be consumed. Every now and
then it seemed Pakistan would get a break through, and be back in the match. It was in the balance and they were not running away with the match but rather it was a slow death for the Pakistani players.
When the third mandatory power-play was taken, India still required 8 runs an over to win the game. Saeed Ajmal was able to contain runs along with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Umar-Gul-c94604. Even though no wickets were taken in the power-play, not many runs were scored either. In the last
10 overs the game was evenly balanced, albeit titled in India’s favour due to them having wickets in hand. Something had to give.
Virat Kohli just moved up a gear, and scoring at will. There were orthodox shot, reminiscent of Dravid in his prime – lovely cover drives played with the full bat. As soon as India was ruing the loss of Dravid, a new No.3 batsman has arrived and he is just
as good as the batsman who has passed his mantle to the youngster.
If there were more runs to get, then Kohli could have had a double hundred and one that would have been better than the one’s made by his teammates – Tendulkar and Sehwag. As he got out on 183, he had played the one of the best ODI innings that has ever
been witnessed and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 safely reached the target.
Like Hobart last month, Virat Kohli gave India an excellent result against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758, chasing a score in excess of 300 to secure a bonus point. Yesterday he proved once again he can score when it matters.
Sri Lanka qualified in place of India in the Commonwealth Bank Series, in spite of his heroics and this time around, yet again the destiny of his team is not in their own hands. If Bangladesh beats Sri Lanka in the last league game of the Asia Cup, they
qualify for the final at the expense of India.
Will Hobart repeat itself again?
It will be cruel for a batsman like Kohli.
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