AHMEDABAD: Abhishek Sharma was bowled out for the third consecutive time but Shivam Dube once again showed how dangerous and influential he can be with a career-best 66 off just 31 balls as India beat Netherlands by 17 runs on Wednesday.
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The defending champions and co-hosts ended the league stage with wins in all four games and top spot in Group A. They now have a good rest over the next three days before taking on South Africa in their first Super 8 match at the same venue.
To help the bowlers get used to defending the total in dewy conditions in Super 8 ball, India decided to bat first in this inconsequential draw. Dube’s power-packed half-century – his first in the T20 World Cup – took India to a formidable 193-6 after an initial poor performance from Dutch spinner Aryan Dutt, who ended the match with brilliant bowling figures of 2-19 in four overs.
Varun Chakravarthy then worked his magic, taking 3-14 in three overs, but a dynamic Netherlands responded well with 176-7.
India’s catch on the night was down, but the biggest concern was the poor performance of Abhishek, who fell for his fifth duck of the year. Ishan Kishan (18; 7b, 22×4, 1×6), Tilak Varma (31; 27b, 3×4, 1×6) and captain Suryakumar Yadav (34; 28b, 2×4, 1×6) were all dropped while in good form.
India were crawling to 110/4 in the 14th over when ‘SKY’ was caught at the brilliant leg of Logan van Beek (3-56 in four overs). However, all-rounder Hardik Pandya (30; 21b, 3×6) and Dube then put on 76 off just 35 balls for the fifth wicket, giving the co-hosts of the tournament some much-needed impetus in the second half of the innings.
Dube hit 50 off 25 balls and Pandya hit nine sixes as India plundered 75 in the last five overs to provide ample entertainment for the 68,000 spectators.
In the penultimate over, the Dube-Pandya partnership took 21 off Kyle Klein, with Pandya hitting two sixes at a medium pace while Dube took four off him.
Overall, the Indian batsmen hit 13 sixes on the night. Dube uses his long leverage, timing and raw power to put the ball in orbit if he throws it into the arc. In the previous two games, Dube also made cameos of 23 (16b) and 27 (17 balls) against Namibia and Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Abhishek lost his leg stump in the third delivery and Aryan Dutt’s bowling was superb with one leg slipping out of the water. Lack of confidence, Abhishek tried to pass the ball to the side and completely missed its path. Dutt, who was superb in the powerplay, also had Ishant Kishan bowled in a bizarre manner: the ball grazed the in-form left-hander’s pads and elbow, then dripped onto the stumps as he tried to block it.
The Netherlands controlled India in the first 15 overs before Dube-Pandya’s onslaught, and India deserved a lot of credit for being 51/2 after the Powerplay.
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12 – India extended their record in the T20 World Cup by winning the T20 World Cup for the twelfth consecutive time between June 5, 2024 and February 18, 2026. 66 – Shivam Dube scored his maiden fifty in the T20 World Cup, better than his 34 against Bangladesh on June 22, 2024 at North Bay. His batting was the best of his career in T20Is. His previous best score was 65 against New Zealand in Vizag on January 28, 2026. 1 – Dube’s knock set India’s highest individual innings record by a No. 5 or below batsman in the T20 World Cup, surpassing Hardik Pandya’s 63 against England in Adelaide on November 10, 2022. 13 – Hardik Pandya becomes the 13th all-rounder and the first Indian to complete 6000+ runs and 200+ wickets in Twenty20. 3 – Abhishek Sharma is the third opening batsman to score three ducks in the T20 WC tournament. The top two are West Indies’ Andrew Fletcher in 2009 and Bangladesh’s Tanzeed Hassan in 2024. Three other batsmen have scored three ducks in T20 WC matches – Scotland’s Richie Bellington (2021-22), Zimbabwe’s Regis Chakabwa (2022-23) and Uganda’s Roger Mukasa (2024). 4 – Abhishek is the fourth batsman to bat in three consecutive matches at the T20 World Cup, joining India’s Ashish Nehra from 2010 to 2016, Fletcher in 2009 and Mukasa in 2024. 55 – Abhishek is the second Indian batsman in a year to get 5 ducks in 8 innings. Sanju Samson registered 5 ducks in 12 innings in 2024. |
