Bravo to Kohli, FOUR, a full ball on middle stump, Kohli stays on middle stump, stays balanced and smashes it flat and hard towards the wide long on boundary, just bounces inside the rope
Bravo to Dhoni, 3 runs, another slower ball, Dhoni mis-times the pull in the air but it falls short of the fielder at deep midwicket, they run two, that isn’t surprising though they had to race for it, but what they don’t do is over-run the second, they stop as soon as the sprint is finished and capitalise on the bad throw, they sprint the third. Superlative running
Bravo to Kohli, 1 run, in he blockhole outside off, Kohli square drives but can’t beat point, great final over so far for West Indies, only four runs off the first three balls
Bravo to Kohli, 2 runs, he’s finally mis-timed one and Simmons has dropped the catch on the deep midwicket boundary! Kohli lunged at the dipping slower ball and swung across the line, lofting it in the air towards deep midwicket, Simmons ran to his right and dived but could not hold on
Bravo to Dhoni, 1 run, a full toss on the pads, he’s got away with that one, Dhoni swats it to the fielder at deep midwicket for a single … but that means …
Ared: “All the good bowling effort of West Indies has been nullified by the quick singles these guys took. Kohli has shown that T20 isn’t just about raw power but one can score runs by sticking to the basics and being insanely fit. ”
End of over 19 (19 runs) India 180/2 (RR: 9.47)
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- V Kohli81 (43b 10×4 1×6)
- MS Dhoni11 (7b 1×4 0x6)
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- AD Russell4-0-47-1
- DJ Bravo3-0-32-0
Russell to Kohli, FOUR, this one is easier to hit, a full toss, and Kohli drives with perfect timing and power past the bowler, long off and long on have no chance, this is another blinder from this quite unbelievable batsman
Russell to Kohli, FOUR, and Kohli after a few deep breaths to recover still has the energy to smash the full ball hard and flat over cover, the fielder in the circle got finger tips on it but that was driven so, so hard
Russell to Kohli, 2 runs, the yorker, Kohli digs it out in front of square and they race through for a single, and then they race back for the second, I have not seen better running in cricket than Kohli and Dhoni in these last two games
Russell to Kohli, SIX, the length ball has disappeared! Kohli gets on the front foot and uses the wide outside off to free his arms and smash the ball cleanly over long on
Here’s an unconventional though from Ratnakar: “Can we have Brathwaite doing a Jason Roy at top of the order? He’s not going to bat at 9 is he?”
Russell to Kohli, 2 runs, nearly in the blockhole outside off, Kohli is good enough to open the face as he drives and place the ball through backward point
Russell to Dhoni, 1 run, in the blockhole, Dhoni stays in his crease and drills the drive to long off
Mohit Shah: “In the 80s n 90s, the Yorker (toe-crusher) and the Bouncers were the norms .. but in these T20 games .. it’s the Off-cutters and the Back-of-the-arm Fauknersish balls the norms .. Tough for the bowlers to adapt” Evolve or …
End of over 18 (11 runs) India 161/2 (RR: 8.94)
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- V Kohli63 (38b 8×4 0x6)
- MS Dhoni10 (6b 1×4 0x6)
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- DJ Bravo3-0-32-0
- CR Brathwaite4-0-38-0
Bravo to Kohli, FOUR, that is a sensational drive and the timing is so good that even the rapid Russell can’t cut it off from long-off ! Kohli came forward and moved slightly outside leg and drove a length ball on the up through extra cover, Russell was tearing across the turf and dived but the ball beat him comfortably
Bravo to Kohli, no run, mis-timed back to the bowler, Bravo does not turn around and try and run out Dhoni
Bravo to Kohli, FOUR, that’s swatted flat in the air, Brathwaite comes running in from the long-on boundary and dives forward to try and catch it, the ball bounces just in front of him and goes past for four. Kohli dragged that with a flat bat from wide outside off
Bravo to Dhoni, 1 run, Dhoni moves his front foot outside leg and drives a near-blockhole ball to long on for a single
Bravo to Kohli, 1 run, a length ball outside off, Kohli’s bottom hand comes off the bat as he drives to deep cover
Bravo to Dhoni, 1 run, a slower full toss, quite high with not much dip, Dhoni tries to glance to the fine leg boundary but short fine leg is in the way, Bravo is lucky to get away there
Karthik Sukumar: “Without a strict diet and a grueling fitness regime, this kind of running is so tough! Brilliant, and great to see how far Indian cricket has come in terms of fitness.”
End of over 17 (17 runs) India 150/2 (RR: 8.82)
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- V Kohli54 (34b 6×4 0x6)
- MS Dhoni8 (4b 1×4 0x6)
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- CR Brathwaite4-0-38-0
- AD Russell3-0-28-1
Brathwaite to Kohli, FOUR, off the toe of the bat and wide of the keeper to the third man boundary! Kohli keeps whipping those wrists of his and somehow manages to place his mis-hits too, that ball was full outside off, he was aiming for cover point by making room and driving
Brathwaite to Kohli, 2 runs, a mis-hit has resulted in a hard-run two and Kohli has another fifty! He played a checked-pull and the ball lobbed in the air towards mid-on, the fielder had to come in from the long on boundary and there was enough time for Dhoni to race back to the danger end
alok: “Dont know which West Indies will turn up today..if they are good, even 250 is not defendable and at times even 132 is tooo good for em”
Brathwaite to Kohli, FOUR, short of a length and Kohli pulls it behind square for four, he knows where the field is so he uses his wrists to place it away from the fielder in the deep
Brathwaite to Dhoni, 1 run, a slower ball outside off, pushed off the front foot towards cover, doesn’t beat the infield so just the single
Brathwaite to Dhoni, 2 runs, driven through cover and once again the running is jaw-dropping, Dhoni is steaming between the wickets
Brathwaite to Dhoni, FOUR, shot! Gets down low and moves towards the off side to paddle a low full toss from outside off stump wide of the fielder at short fine leg
Mayur Dave: “@Nishan, His role was to not give away his wicket as easily as Dhawan has been doing so as to ensure a launching pad in the death overs – at least he got out playing an attacking shot. It was not a futile innings by any means.” Explanation enough, I think. Thanks!
End of over 16 (6 runs) India 133/2 (RR: 8.31)
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- MS Dhoni1 (1b 0x4 0x6)
- V Kohli44 (31b 4×4 0x6)
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- AD Russell3-0-28-1
- CR Brathwaite3-0-21-0
Russell to Dhoni, 1 run, hit off the back foot through cover point
Russell to Dhoni, 1 wide, that is a tight call of wide, it was short of a length outside off, just inside the wide line I thought, and Dhoni let it go
Russell to Kohli, 1 run, a high full toss outside off, driven off the front foot – he was out of his crease – through cover
Russell to Kohli, 2 runs, there you go, Kohli plays it towards midwicket gently and they thunder between the wickets for the second run
India might not mind that wicket, considering all the power they have left in the line-up.
Nishan G Shetty: “I respect Rahane’s Cricket. But anyone explain to me his tactics here?”
Dhoni is in the middle, expect more superb running.
Russell to Rahane, OUT, caught right on the edge of the midwicket boundary! Bravo is the catcher and he turns to the fans and does his champion celebration. It was a short ball and Rahane pulled it straight to the fielder, he hit it with the bottom of his bat
AM Rahane c Bravo b Russell 40 (68m 35b 2×4 0x6) SR: 114.28
Russell to Kohli, 1 run, nearly in the blockhole again and Kohli drives through cover, giving Charles more work to do on the boundary, he’s earned his dinner tonight, has Charles
Bravo to Kohli, 1 run, driven to long on for just the single this time, it is over, India have made 192. Kohli has made more than half of those runs. He has run like a beast in warm and humid conditions. He is spent, drenched in sweat, huffing and puffing as he walks off, he has given it everything