T20 World Cup: Rohit special puts India in semi-finals; 'Men in Blue' remain unbeaten

With this convincing win, India remained unbeaten in the tournament and topped Group 1 with 6 points from three games in Super 8.

After posting 205/5 in 20 overs, India kept Australia to 181/7 with Arsheep Singh (3/37) being the top wicket-taker. Kuldeep Yadav too was excellent with figures of 2/24. Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel took one wicket apiece.

For Australia, Travis Head was the top scorer with 76 off 43 while skipper Mitchell Marsh made 37 off 28.

Rohit blasts 92 off 41

In the second semi-final in Providence on Thursday (June 27), India will face England, who finished second behind South Africa in Group 2.

Australia’s (2 points from three matches) fate of progressing to the semi-finals depends on the result of the last Super 8 game between Afghanistan (2 points) and Bangladesh (0) who were slated to face off later on Monday.

A win (less than 62 runs) for Bangladesh will take Australia to the last four stage while Afghanistan will enter the knockouts with a victory.

For Bangladesh to go through they need to win by more than 62 runs, after scoring 150 and above.

Earlier, Rohit combined brute force with elegance in his 92 off 41 balls as India amassed 205 for five.

On the best batting surface of the tournament, Australia put India in to bat and Rohit made the most of the conditions with a sublime knock comprising seven fours and eight sixes including a recording extending 200th in the format.

It was the start of something special when Rohit flicked Mitchell Starc for four in the first over of the game.

Kohli out for a duck

Virat Kohli (0) at the other end mistimed a pull off Josh Hazlewood in the following over to be caught in the deep.

Walking the talk once again, Rohit never took the foot off the pedal and went hammer and tongs against Starc, whose second over yielded as many as 29 runs, his most expensive in the format.

The first two sixes in the over came via delightful aerial drive over extra cover before he smashed one in the cow corner region. The fourth maximum of the over came via a mishit that went all the way behind the stumps.

Rohit did bulk of the damage in his 87-run stand with number three Rishabh Pant (15 off 14), who welcomed leg-spinner Adam Zampa into the attack with a six over long-on.

Australia's trump card went wicket-less.

Another memorable shot of Rohit's innings was the down-on-one-knee six over deep mid-wicket off Pat Cummins in the latter's opening over.

Credit must go to India for not allowing any other bowler to settle into a rhythm. Rohit brought his fifty at end of the fifth over with a single and that was also the fastest of the tournament.

Rohit unleashed a six over extra cover when Marcus Stoinis came into the attack in the eighth over.

Suryakumar scores 31

Such was the authority of Rohit's innings that he could choose his spot against all the bowlers of repute. It could have been a well-deserved 100 but Starc came back to remove the India skipper with a yorker.

Suryakumar Yadav (31 off 15), Hardik Pandya (27 not out off 17) and Shivam Dube (28 off 22) also played their part but India could not make the most of the last five overs, scoring only 43 runs for the loss of one wicket.

Even as his colleagues leaked runs, Josh Hazlewood seemed to be bowling on a different pitch, conceding only 14 runs while taking one wicket in his four overs.

(With agency inputs)