Suryakumar Yadav's heroics in the final seven overs of a Group A match against Hong Kong at the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday ensured India's Super Four berth in the Asia Cup 2022.
KL Rahul's struggle came to an end at 36 off 39 balls at 94/2 in 13 overs, and Suryakumar came in and immediately altered the tone of India's innings. He stayed unbeaten on 68 off 26 balls, hitting six fours and as many sixes, in addition to his audacious wrist play and other devastating drives, slashes, scoops, and sweeps that sent the ball flying all over the park. At a strike rate of 261.53, he scored 68 runs, 60 of which were off boundaries.
Other Indian hitters appeared to be batting on a very different pitch thanks to his aggressive stroke-play. All other Indian hitters combinedly managed to hit nine boundaries in 96 balls, whereas Suryakumar managed to hit 12 boundaries in his 26-ball innings.
Along with Virat Kohli, who scored 59 in 44 balls for his 31st T20I fifty and had a 98-run partnership with Suryakumar, the Indian team managed 78 runs in the final five overs to reach the intimidating total of 192/2, which was far from probable at the halfway point score of 70/1.
After deciding to bowl first, Hong Kong, who had done well in holding India to 70 at the halfway point and managing to keep Rahul and Kohli quiet with their tight lines and lengths on a sticky pitch, had no answers and was completely lost in front of Suryakumar and his dazzling stroke play.
Babar Hayat (41) and Kinchit Shah (30) put on a 71-run stand as they chased 193 while scoring 33 runs in the final two overs. However, they fell short of Suryakumar and Kohli's efforts.
Young pacers Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh combined to leak 97 runs, which India's spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja made up for by bowling just 48 runs altogether to limit Hong Kong to 152/5 in their 20 overs.
Before pulling an off-cutter late and taking the top edge to diving mid-on off bowler Ayush Shukla, Rohit Sharma produced a fast 21 from 13 balls, smashing two fours and a six. Rahul had trouble timing the ball throughout his innings, despite hitting two sixes. Rahul and Kohli were held in check for 3.2 overs by Hong Kong's slower speed, emphasis on back of length, and superb tight lines on a two-paced pitch.
The twenty-first ball Kohli faced resulted in his maiden boundary, which he danced down the pitch to slam over Mohammad Ghazanfar's head. Rahul makes frantic sweep and reverse sweep attempts to extricate himself. He attempted to draw an outside off-stump sweep from a Ghazanfar delivery, but it took an edge.
With back-to-back sweeps through the deep square leg zone off Murtaza, Suryakumar got things going. He then hit Shukla's pitch past fine leg for his third boundary in as many balls. While Suryakumar backed away to cut hard over short third man for four and scooped the very next ball over fine leg for six as 20 came off the over, Kohli glided down the pitch and lofted Aizaz for six over deep mid-wicket.
Shukla was hit by Suryakumar for back-to-back fours, upping the ante. He produced an amazing flip off his toes for a six over deep square leg after fending off lbw and stumping appeals. Kohli slid down on one leg to dismiss Ehsan Khan over deep mid-wicket after completing his fifty in 40 balls.
Suryakumar reached his fifty in 22 balls in the final over. His mesmerising blitz had viewers spellbound as 26 runs were scored in the last over, but he wasn't finished yet. He presented the full face of the bat while lofting down the ground for a hat-trick of sixes and earned his fourth six of the over by pulling over fine leg.
Yazim Murtaza was bowled out by Arshdeep in the second over. Hayat, though, challenged Bhuvneshwar, Avesh, and Arshdeep, smashing sixes into the ground and displaying his leg-side skill by slamming three fours in five balls. Though Nizakat Khan was caught by Jadeja's razor-sharp direct hit from point just short of his crease, India ended the power play on a high note.
Jadeja and Chahal put a stop to Hong Kong's scoring rate after the power play, as just 14 runs were scored in the following four overs. To free himself from the chains, Hayat attempted to confront Jadeja but was ultimately cut off at the spot. To pick boundaries, Shah swept, turned inside-out, and steered hard.
Avesh defeated Aizaz with a slower delivery as the needed run rate increased, while Shah erred in an attempt to go big by misfiring to a juggling long-off off Bhuvneshwar. In the final two overs, Zeeshan Ali and Scott McKechnie each hit a few boundaries. However, India had already almost locked themselves a position in the Super Four and their second straight victory in the Asia Cup 2022.
Brief Scores: India 192/2 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 68 not out, Virat Kohli 59 not out; Mohammad Ghazanfar 1/19, Ayush Shukla 1/29) beat Hong Kong 152/5 in 20 overs (Babar Hayat 41, Kinchit Shah 30, Ravindra Jadeja 1/15, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1/15) by 40 runs