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India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin said it was because of Virat Kohli that the India vs Afghanistan third and final T20I at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru went into the Super Over. The match ended up creating history as one Super Over was not enough to decide the winner. India and Afghanistan played two Super Overs – the first time in an international match – on Wednesday and it was the hosts who emerged on top as leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi defended 11 by picking up two wickets in three balls.
Batting first, India finished with 212/4 thanks to a record fifth T20I century from captain Rohit Sharma (121*) and a scintillating half-century (69* off 39 balls) from Rinku Singh. Afghanistan, in a spirited reply, stopped with 212/6 in their 20 overs after captain Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Gulbadin Naib slammed half-centuries.
In the first Super Over, Afghanistan ended up 16 and in reply, India failed to score 3 runs off the final two deliveries despite Rohit’s twin sixes earlier in the over.
Ashwin, however, said the match might not have gone to the Super Over if it wasn’t for Virat Kohli. The former India captain was out for a golden duck for the first time in his T20I career but the way he fielded was simply outstanding.
In the 17th over of the Afghanistan innings, Kohli’s outstanding effort at the long on saved a certain six. It was the penultimate ball of off-spinner Washington Sundar’s over. Afghanistan batter Karim Janat made a good connection. The ball went flat towards long-on where Kohli was stationed. The former India captain jumped as high as he could and stretched his right hand to somehow grab the ball. But he realised very quickly that he would not be able to hold on to the ball without crossing the ropes. In a split-second decision, he flicked the ball back into play.
What should have been a sure-shot six, resulted only in a single and that actually proved to be the deciding factor. If it wasn’t for that save, Afghanistan would have won the match in the regulation 20 overs.
“He flew like Spiderman to save a six and that is the reason the match went into Super Over and eventually India won the match,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Apart from that potentially match-changing effort, Kohli also inflicted Gulbadin Naib’s runout in the first ball of the first Super Over. Naib drilled the Mukesh Kumar yorker towards long-on. Kohli charged, picked up the ball and had the presence of mind to throw it towards the striker’s end where Naib was struggling to come back for the second run. He was way short of the crease and Kohli’s throw was not only fast but also accurate.
Ashwin also hailed Kohli for his consistency as a batter in T20Is. “That is why we talk about Virat Kohli so much. He consistently scores at a good average and strike rate in a format that is so inconsistent,” he added.
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