COMFORTABLE CRUISE

Surya, Virat And Rohit Hit Half-Centuries As India Register Second Straight Win To Go Top Of Group

- Partha Bhaduri

Sydney: There was one moment in the game when the Netherlands discovered that the difference in class between the two sides couldn’t be bridged merely by bowling good lines. Their varied attack had somehow kept a tight leash on India’s top order on a slowish pitch where the ball sometimes tended to stop. The surface was also worn down a bit by the South Africa-Bangladesh contest earlier in the day.

Predictions of India’s masterly domination over an Associate team seemed fanciful when at the end of three overs, only nine runs had been scored and KL Rahul had fallen to a dubious LBW decision which was not reviewed. With Rohit Sharma looking to hit his way out of trouble and Kohli calmly biding his time, at the end of 10 overs India were merely 67/1, a middling start at best, even by the lethargic SCG’s standards.

Rohit fell in the 12th over for a scratchy but eventually satisfying 39ball 53 (4x4, 3x6). By the end of 15 India had done marginally better to take the score to 114/2, with Kohli on 32 off 30. This was when things changed.

At the other end, Suryakumar Yadav, who got his first stint in the middle in Australian conditions in this World Cup, had already signalled his intentions with a 9-ball 17 till that point, using his wrists to flick, his pick-up shot, to dismiss some not-so-bad balls and even unleashing a straightforward classic cover drive.