Kohli's 78 sees India beat Pakistan

Cricket365
September 30, 2012

India batsman Virat Kohli recorded his best T20 score against Pakistan on Sunday as his team won by eight wickets in Colombo, easily reaching the meagre 129 required with 18 balls to spare.

Kohli came in to bat after Gautam Gambhir was dismissed in the first over, and he never let the pressure get to him, scoring 78 not out off 61 balls and even hit Saeed Ajmal for some classy boundaries.

India's bowlers dominated from start to finish earlier in the day, never allowing Pakistan to get partnerships going, and the men in green didn't help themselves with terrible shot selections against the spinners, falling all out for 128 in 19.4 overs.

L Balaji, in the side in place of Harbhajan Singh, took three wickets, while Ravi Ashwin once again did well and took two wickets. The comeback kid, Yuvraj Singh, contributed with the ball and took two wickets, and also scored a direct hit run out.

While Shoaib Malik scored 28 runs, only Umar Akmal was also able to get more than 20, and he was out to Ashwin for 21, caught by Suresh Raina on the boundary. It was a truly superb fielding effort from India.

The chase got off to a wobbly start for India, when rookie Raza Hasan got Gambhir out in the first over. It was an easy caught and bowled for the 20 year old and Gambhir was gone for a duck.

Kohli and Sehwag set about chasing the target, starting slowly before increasing the pace once the powerplay overs were out the way. Kohli was dropped by Umar Akmal with his score on 43, though it was a difficult diving effort.

Sehwag was not as lucky in the next over though, with Umar Gul taking a great catch on the boundary, narrowly avoiding the ropes to send Sehwag on his way for 29, the score on 75 for two.

Kohli reached his fifty soon after, off 41 balls, as India needed to go at less than a run a ball. He was again dropped with his score on 64, Imran Nazir letting the ball hit the turf after he slipped at deep mid wicket.

Kohli was named Man of the Match for his effort, while Yuvraj added 19 not out to silence some of the critics voicing their disapproval of his place in the side at the moment.

India: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, R Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, L Balaji

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Nazir, Nasir Jamshed, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Yasir Arafat, Raza Hasan, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal