T20 World Cup: Indomitable India Pulverise Mighty Australia In Super 8 Game, Enter Semis In Style

India secured a spot in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2024 with a 24-run victory over heavyweights Australia in their final Super Eight match held in St Lucia.

The thrilling win elevated India's tally in Group 1 and took it to to 6 points - a score unreachable by Australia, Afghanistan, or Bangladesh.

Photo Credit: PTI

Batting first, Rohit fired on all cylinders and struck as many as eight sixes and seven fours in his scintillating knock of 41-ball 92, which powered India to an mammoth 205/5. In reply, Australia were restricted to 181 for seven in the stipulated 20 overs.

Travis Head top-scored for the Kangaroos with his valiant 76 off 43 balls.

Among Indian bowlers, Kuldeep Yadav (2/24) performed brilliantly in the middle overs, while Arshdeep Singh ended with figures of 3/37.

Earlier, unperturbed by Virat Kohli's early dismissal, Rohit went after pacer Mitchell Starc and bludgeoned him for 29 runs in his second over, setting the tone for India.

Starc, who was taken to the cleaners by Rohit, returned to dismiss the India captain and give some relief to the Australian camp.

But Suryakumar Yadav (31 off 16 balls) and Shivam Dube (28 off 22) kept up the tempo with their big hits before Hardik Pandya (27 off 17) finished the India innings in style.

Skipper Rohit Sharma was the standout performer today, although he fell shy of just eight runs for a century, his efforts propelled the Men in Blue to a formidable total.

Sharma became the first batter in the world to hit 200 sixes in T20I cricket. He also set a record for the most sixes against a single opponent in international cricket.

Brief scores:

India: 205/5 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 92; Josh Hazlewood 1/14).

Australia: 181/7 in 20 overs (Travis Head 76; Kuldeep Yadav 2/24, Arshdeep Singh 3/37).

(With PTI inputs)