T20 World Cup 2022

'Greatest T20I ever played' - Twitter catches its breath after Virat Kohli saves India from a loss against Pakistan with his breathtaking innings

The India vs Pakistan match in the 20-20 World Cup ended with India winning the game as Virat Kohli played the innings of his life.

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Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli (Source: Twitter)

Virat Kohli Virat Kohli (Source: Twitter)

The mega clash between India and Pakistan got underway at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday. Indian captain Rohit Sharma called it correctly at the toss and invited Pakistan to bat first in the epic clash. Pakistan openers Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam walked out to the middle to emulate their heroics of last year’s 20-20 World Cup opener.

However, the Indian bowlers were determined to not let the openers settle with Bhuvneshwar Kumar starting with a brilliant first over. Pakistan were given their first blow as Arshdeep Singh removed the dangerous Babar Azam on his first ball of the tournament. The Pakistan captain was trapped in front with an in-swinging delivery.

Arshdeep further added to Pakistan’s woes by removing Mohammad Rizwan in the fourth over. After the two early blows, Shan Masood and Iftikhar Ahmed got together at the crease to stabilise the innings. After settling early on, Iftikhar Ahmed targeted Axar Patel as he clobbered him for three maximums in one over.

India got the third wicket at the score of 91 as Ahmed perished to Mohammad Shami. Hardik Pandya further brought India back into the game with the wickets of Shadab Khan and Haider Ali. Shan Masood took his team to a decent total with some help from the tail.

The Indian chase got off to a miserable start as KL Rahul lost his stumps against Naseem Shah in the second over. Indian captain Rohit Sharma also followed him in the third over as he was dismissed by Haris Rauf. Suryakumar Yadav came out playing some shots to up the ante. Even his stay didn’t last long as he was removed by Haris Rauf.

Axar Patel’s run out further made things worse for India as they were left reeling at 31/4. Hardik Pandya and Virat Kohli weathered the storm for India against top-notch Pakistan bowling. The duo kept nudging the ball around for singles with the required run-rate climbing with every ball. After setting his eye-in, both the batters began looking for boundaries and pressed on the accelerator.

The game seemed to be slipping away from India's grasp with 48 needed off 18 balls. Seeing the challenge get bigger, Virat Kohli unleashed his beast mode and played the innings of his life. He ripped apart Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf as he played some never-seen-before shots. There was more drama to follow in the final over as a no ball and a free hit left everyone confused. Ravichandran Ashwin finished the proceedings for India scoring a single off the last ball of the innings. Virat Kohli remained unbeaten on 82 off 53 balls as he was awarded player of the match for his breathtaking knock.

Here's how Twitter reacted to India's incredible win:

 

20-20 World Cup Virat Kohli