After strangling South Africa, Team India qualified for the semi-finals of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy as skipper Virat Kohli reveals it was a good toss to win as the bowlers did their job and maintained their line and the length to skittle out the Proteas for 191 in 44.3 overs.
After clinching a comprehensive win by eight wickets and 72 balls to spare formidable India is all-set to face Asian counterpart Bangladesh on Thursday (June 15) at the Edgbaston in Birmingham.
“The wicket didn’t change much. Our bowlers bowled really well and it was a good toss to win,” Virat Kohli said at the post-match presentation.
Playing the significant role with the bat, Virat Kohli remained unbeaten on 76 off 101 balls, as his sublime innings was laced with seven boundaries and a solitary six.
At the other end, Yuvraj Singh remained not out on 23 off 25 which was comprised of one six and a boundary respectively.
The 28-year skipper Kohli has praised left-handed batting mainstay Shikhar Dhawan (78 off 83), who registered his third consecutive fifty-plus score after bringing his century against Sri Lanka.
Kohli further added Yuvraj Singh has shown the early intent to finish off the game as the Delhi-lad believes it was a crunch game for both the teams.
“Shikhar [Dhawan] was batting very well. Even Yuvi [Yuvraj Singh] wanted to finish the game along with me to take some confident to the semis,” Kohli maintained.
Moreover, while talking about the game thoroughly, Kohli expressed AB de Villiers wicket is always good when it comes early, otherwise it could hurt the team
“He [AB de Villiers] can really hurt you in the middle overs. Always good to get him (de Villiers) out early,” Kohli added.
Kohli added the side has enjoyed playing at Edgbaston while adding they would like to improve as he personally feels there’s always a room for improvement be it on the winning or losing side.
“It suits out style of cricket as well. There’s always room for improvement. Any game of cricket whether you win or lose, there is always something to improve,” Kohli further added.
Coming to chasing down the innings, Kohli admitted it was essential for one of the players to anchor the innings and stay there till finish the game off.
“It was important for someone to bat till the end,” Kohli concluded.
Rohit Sharma was caught by Quinton de Kock on the bowling of Morne Morkel on 12 off 20 balls followed by Dhawan, who was dismissed by leg-spinner Imran Tahir when Faf du Plessis completed a good catch.
For India, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah bagged two each as Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya claimed one wicket each which further saw quality fielding affecting three run-outs.