BENGALURU: Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul’s centuries and half-centuries by Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli took India to 410/4 against the Netherlands in the last league game of the world cup at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Shreyas Iyer led the Indian batting lineup after he scored his first World Cup century from 84 balls in the 45.6 overs. However, other Indian batters also scored fifties in Bengaluru. Meanwhile, the Dutch bowling attack could not keep a check on India’s run rate.
Rohit and Gill opened for the ‘Men in Blue’ and played a solid partnership of 100-run to give an early advantage to the host country.
At the end of the first powerplay in 10 overs, India was at 91/0 with Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill on the crease.
‘Men in Blue’ reached the 100-run mark in the 11.4 overs.
Gill’s inning came to an end after van Meekeren bagged his wicket in the 11.5 overs for 51 runs. Gill smashed three fours and fours sixes (IND 100-1).
Indian skipper Rohit had to leave the crease after Bas de Leede took his wicket in the 17.4 overs for 61 runs. He smashed eight fours and two sixes on Sunday (IND 129-2).
India reached the 150-run mark in the 21.3 overs.
Former India skipper Virat Kohli came to the crease in the 11.5 over after Shubman Gill was dismissed by van Meekeren. Kohli started off well and smashed his 71st ODI half-century in 53 balls, with five fours and one six.
However, Kohli’s inning came to an end after van der Merwe bagged his wicket in the 28.4 overs for 51 runs. Kohli hit three fours and fours sixes against the Dutch side (IND 200-3).
India reached the 200-run mark in the 28.3 overs. In the second powerplay after the end of 40 overs, India scored 193 runs. While the Dutch bowling attack picked up three wickets. The host country crossed the 300-run mark in the 41.4 overs.
KL Rahul made his century in the 49.2 overs after smashing a six. Rahul made the fastest century for India in World Cups with just 62 balls.
India crossed the 400-run mark in the 49.2 overs.
In the 49.5 overs, de Leede removed KL Rahul for 102 runs from 64 balls. He smashed 11 fours and four sixes (IND 408-4).
On the other hand, the Dutch bowling attack displayed a disappointing performance after they failed to keep a check on India’s run rate. Logan van Beek has been expensive in the first inning after he gifted 107 runs in his 10-over spell. Bas de Leede picked up two wickets in his spell. While Paul van Meekeren and Roelof van der Merwe scalped one wicket each.
India need to defend the target of 411 runs to maintain their winning streak at the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023. (ANI)