Dubai: Captain-in waiting Rohit Sharma (56, 37b, 7×4, 2×6) and KL Rahul (54 n o, 34b, 4×4, 2×6) made short work of a modest target with an elegant half century after spinners reigned supreme as India on Virat Kohli’s last day as shortest format captain ended their T20 World Cup campaign with an emphatic nine-wicket victory over Namibia here Monday. Due to the knock of the two openers, India chased down the target of 133 in only 15.2 overs. Giving Rahul company at the end was Suryakumar Yadav (25 n o, 19b, 4×4).
It was nothing more than a stroll in the park for the Indians, who basically caught the Namibians by the scruff of their necks with spinners Ravindra Jadeja (3/16) and Ravichandran Ashwin (3/20), snaring six wickets between them. They were well-supported by pacer Jasprit Bumrah (2/19).
Then, Rohit dazzled and Rahul sizzled with some breathtaking pick-up pull shots while Suryakumar showed his 360 degree hitting skills to end a rather disappointing tournament on a sweet note. But three comprehensive wins against smaller nations came only after the horse had bolted the door.
The last three games were flawless but it was two matches too late, something that will certainly haunt Kohli, whose white ball captaincy tenure is set to end with no ICC trophy to show for his efforts.
On the night, India’s spinners were just too good for the unheralded Namibia batters as India restricted the minnows to a modest 132 for eight in their inconsequential final T20 World Cup match.
Already ousted from the tournament after losing to Pakistan and New Zealand in their first two games, India looked relaxed and the Namibians were all at sea as they are not used to playing world class slow bowling operators of this calibre. Mohammed Shami (0/39 in 4 overs) was the only bowler who had an off-day.
Jadeja saw Craig Williams jumping down the track and stopped on his tracks and pitched on length to get enough away turn. Williams missed it and stood mid-pitch looking completely bamboozled. Stephan Baard (21, 21b, 1×4, 2×6) was out to a typical Jadeja arm ball, which he tried to sweep and was caught plumb in-front.
Once Jadeja got a couple of wickets, it was Ashwin’s turn to get into action as he removed Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton (5), inducing a cut, a shot that landed into slip fielder Rohit’s palms and then bowled one with the angle that cleaned up Zane Green (0). In between he also removed rival skipper Gerhard Erasmus (12).
But the highlight of India’s fielding effort was a superb diving catch by Rohit at short cover when he had roughly 0.16 seconds reaction time to pluck the ball inches above the ground to dismiss JJ Smit (9).
Brief scores: Namibia 132 for 8 (David Wiese 25, Ravindra Jadeja 3/16, Ravichandran Ashwin 3/20) lost to India 136 for 1 in 15.2 overs (Rohit Sharma 56, KL Rahul 54 n o) by 8 wickets.
