India vs Australia: Men in Blue win by 26 runs

GROS ISLET: In an exciting India vs Australia clash that was to decide the Kangaroos’ fate, the Men in Blue steamrolled them to win the match by 24 runs of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 on Monday.

Audience at the Darren Sammy stadium Saint Lucia were in high spirits as two of the strongest cricketing teams faced off against each other. The Men in Blue became the second Asian team to defeat Australia at the 51st match of the tournament.

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During the toss at the start of the India vs Australia match, the latter opted to bowl first after winning the toss.

India set a target of 205 runs at a loss of 5 wickets in the 20 overs. Rohit Sharma was a standout batter, just shy of 8 runs from a century! He scored 92 runs at a loss of just 41 balls.

Suryakumar Yadav scored 31 runs off 16 balls, while Shivam Dube scored 28 balls off 22 balls.

While Australia bowlers tried their hardest, even managing 5 wickets, Indian batters were on fire. Mitchell Starc took two wickets, but he yielded a whopping 45 runs in his four oversw.

Marcus Stoinis also took two wickets, but he managed to outdo Starc – conceding 56 runs in four overs!

When it was Australia’s turn to bat, the world champions known as one of strongest teams in the sport, limped to 181 at a loss of 7 wickets before the overs ran out.

Even though Travis Head scored 76 runs off 43 balls, Mitchell Marsh wavered at 37 for 28, and even Glenn Maxwell could only score 20 in 12 balls.

Meanwhile Indian bowlers were as aggressive as their batters. Arshdeep Singh took out three Australian batters, Kuldeep Yadav two, and Axar Patel a single wicket. The three bowlers yielded a combined 82, with Singh conceding the highest.

For his phenomenal performance, Rohit Sharma was awarded player of the match. India has now reached semifinals as Australians say goodbye to any chance of winning the tournament.

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For remaining matches of Super 8 round, Afghanistan will take on Bangladesh on Tuesday (today) at 5:30 am Pakistan Standard Time (PST).