Courtesy: BCCI
On March 19, 2016, Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten fifty in a tricky run chase, to help India defeat Pakistan by six wickets in the T20 World Cup clash at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. In pursuit of the 119-run target in the rain-curtailed 18 overs-a-side contest, the Indian batting superstar controlled the Indian innings after walking out to bat at number three on a tough pitch for batting. He ended up scoring 55* runs in 37 balls with seven fours and one six, to help India get across the line against Pakistan with 13 balls to spare.
The T20 World Cup 2016 clash between the arch-rivals saw the Indian captain, MS Dhoni, win the toss and decide to field first before his bowlers kept the Pakistan opening pair of Sharjeel Khan (17 off 24) and Ahmed Shehzad (25 off 28) quiet. Captain Shahid Afridi promoted himself to number three in the batting order after the fall of the first wicket for Pakistan at 7.4 overs after scoring just 38 runs. But, the bigger hitter could only score eight runs in 14 balls before perishing to Hardik Pandya.
Virat Kohli made batting look easy on tough Kolkata pitch in T20 World Cup 2016 clash vs Pakistan
Umar Akmal and Shoaib Malik provided some much-needed late impetus to the Pakistan batting innings with a few boundaries, getting into the 20s with a strike-rate of around 150, which helped the team post 118/5 total on the board in their allotted 18 overs. India had a terrible start in the run chase as they lost the wickets of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and Suresh Raina within the first five overs, to find themselves at 23/3. Mohammad Amir and Mohammed Sami bowled impressive spells with the new ball, to bring Pakistan right back into the match.
But then, the Virat Kohli show began as he shared a key stand of 61 runs with Yuvraj Singh for the fourth wicket, to not only bring India out of trouble, but also put them in the box seat to chase the runs down. After the fall of Yuvraj Singh’s wicket for 24 runs in 23 balls on the bowling of Wahab Riaz, the right-handed batter was joined at the crease by Suresh Raina. The pairing of Kohli and Raina didn’t take much time in putting together an unbeaten stand of 35 runs, to take India over the finishing line for yet another victory over Pakistan in the T20 World Cup cricket.
Virat Kohli was given the player of the match award for his exceptional batting performance in difficult circumstances, resurrecting the Indian innings after early wickets fell on a tough batting pitch.
