India ended their group stages unbeaten as they survived a scare by the Netherlands who gave it their best but still ended 17 runs short in their final T20 World Cup group encounter in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
Chasing 194, Chakravarthy (3/14 in 3 overs) shut doors on the Dutch, who were always behind in the pursuit. He was particularly effective in the middle overs and powerplay.
After a cautious start, Dutch opener Max O’Dowd was bowled for 20 by Chakravarthy, and Hardik Pandya removed Michael Levitt for 24. In their stand of 43, Bas de Leede and Ackermann tried to refocus the chase, but Chakravarthy’s mystery spin won the day.
Prior to captain Scott Edwards avoiding the hat-trick, Chakravarthy bowled Dutt on the following ball after dismissing Ackermann for 23. The Dutch were obliged to take chances because to the constantly rising run rate, and as a result, they lost wickets when Edwards was bowled out by Jasprit Bumrah and De Leede (33) was dismissed by Dube.
In a last-ditch effort to pull off a miracle, Zach Lion-Cachet (26), and Noah Croes (unbeaten 25) smashed many boundaries, but India had enough runs on the board and won the match despite two dropped catches in the final over.
Earlier, following a batting stutter, holders India put up 193 runs on the board with the loss of 6 wickets thanks to a counterattacking 66 from Shivam Dube.
Co-hosts India chose to bat first, however Abhishek Sharma was dismissed in the opening over, marking the opener’s third consecutive duck of the tournament. Prior to Dube’s crucial 76-run partnership with Hardik Pandya, who struck 30, India were struggling at 110/4.
The Dutch bowlers continued to strike regular blows as off-spinner Aryan Dutt silenced a sizable crowd at the largest cricket stadium in the world by castling Abhishek with the third ball. Dutt’s four overs yielded outstanding figures of 2-19.
Ishan Kishan was dismissed for 18, Tilak Varma scored 31, and captain Suryakumar Yadav scored 34. All these batters got starts but they were unable to capitalize.
Dube reached his 50 off 25 balls with another boundary off Logan van Beek, remaining composed and hitting a few lustful hits, including two sixes and a four off spinner Colin Ackermann. Despite being removed in the last over, he and Pandya made sure India’s innings ended on a high.
Substitute fielder Tim van der Gugten caught Dube on the boundary rope after he hammered 4 fours and 6 sixes in his 31-ball innings. Pandya then picked out a fielder in the deep off Van Beek’s penultimate delivery.
Defending champions India have already advanced to the next round and their next matchup will be against the last edition’s co-finalists South Africa in their first Super Eights match at the same venue on Sunday.
