CNN Central News & Network–ITDC India Epress/ITDC News Bhopal: Team India has secured a place in the semifinals of the T20 World Cup 2024. In a thrilling Super-8 match played on Monday at the Darren Sammy Stadium in St. Lucia, India defeated Australia by 24 runs. Indian captain Rohit Sharma’s explosive innings of 92 runs set a challenging target of 206 runs for Australia, which the Kangaroo team could not surpass, managing only 181 runs for 7 wickets. Travis Head was the top scorer for Australia with 76 runs.
The Indian bowlers put significant pressure on the Australian batsmen. Arshdeep Singh took three wickets, while Kuldeep Yadav took two, and Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel claimed one wicket each. With this victory, India won all their matches in the Super-8 round, securing the top spot with six points. India will now face England in the semifinals on June 27.
Australia had a poor start, losing David Warner (6) to Arshdeep in the first over. Travis Head and captain Mitchell Marsh (37) added 81 runs for the second wicket, but Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Marsh. In the end, Australia needed 65 runs, but excellent bowling by Bumrah and Pandya restricted them.
Batting first, India scored 205 runs for 5 wickets in 20 overs. Captain Rohit Sharma played a blistering inning of 92 runs off 41 balls, including 7 fours and 8 sixes. Although Virat Kohli got out without scoring, Rohit started his innings with four sixes and a four in Mitchell Starc’s third over. He had an 87-run partnership with Rishabh Pant (15).
While there were hopes for Rohit’s century, Starc bowled him out in the 12th over. Suryakumar Yadav (31) also played aggressively. Hardik Pandya (27*) and Shivam Dube (28) added quick runs in the final overs, leading India to a big score. Thus, India defeated Australia to enter the semifinals.