#WT20 Kohli steers India to big total
Virat Kohli top-scored with 89 as India made a respectable total of 192 for two against West Indies in the second semi-final of cricket's World Twenty20.
|||Virat Kohli top-scored with 89 as India made a respectable total of 192 for two against West Indies in the second semi-final of cricket's World Twenty20 on Thursday.
India's talisman hit 11 fours and one six as he injected much-needed life into the hosts' innings after West Indies won the toss and elected to field at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.
Kohli, in at number three, started nervously though and the Windies were left to rue a bizarre moment in the ninth over when they should have run the 27-year-old out.
After missing a free hit, Kohli, on one, inexplicably began running for a single, only to be waved back by Ajinkya Rahane.
Both wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin and bowler Dwayne Bravo then missed the stumps from just a few yards out, handing Kohli an unlikely reprieve for his moment of madness.
India's hottest prospect breathed a huge sigh of relief and quickly began putting runs on the board after a slow start from openers Rohit Sharma and Rahane.
The ground is known to be a batsman's paradise but boundaries were few and far between in the opening stages as India picked up singles with some quick running between the wickets.
Sharma hit three fours and three sixes in his 31-ball 43 while Rahane took 35 deliveries to reach 40, scoring only two fours and no sixes.
Kohli, who entered the fray in the eighth over after Sharma was bowled lbw by Samuel Badree, upped the tempo, to the delight of a packed crowd at the 33,000-seater stadium.
India were at 86 for one at the halfway stage and it wasn't until the 13th over that they reached 100.
But Kohli put his foot on the gas to race to 89 in just 47 balls as India set the Windies a run chase of 193 in their 20 overs.
The victors will take on England in Sunday's final at Eden Gardens in Kolkata after Eoin Morgan's side defeated New Zealand in the first last-four match. – AFP