Twitter Reactions: Vivacious Virat helps India draw level in the T20I series

Luck didn’t quite favour India in the first two T20Is against Australia. In the second match, India had the upper hand and would’ve drawn level, but that wasn’t the case. Nevertheless, the Indians showed nerves of steel and won the match by six wickets with two balls to spare. Aaron Finch’s men would be disappointed that they let India off the hook after getting them on the mat.

Small contributions guide Aussies

Australia won the toss and opted to bat first and the openers- Aaron Finch and D’Arcy Short- blazed away initially to put on 68 for the first wicket in 8.3 overs. Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav came to the party yet again and got rid of Finch for 28 runs. In the very next over, left-armer Krunal Pandya nipped out Short, who scored 33 runs off 29 deliveries with five boundaries.

Pandya accounted for Ben McDermott’s wicket to put the hosts on the backfoot. The Baroda all-rounder finished with impressive figures of 4-0-36-4. From the Aussies’ perspective, no batsman scored big, but the batsmen churned out a collective effort and helped the home team to 164/6. Alex Carey and Marcus Stoinis scored 27 and 25 respectively to propel Australia’s total.

Kohli and Karthik stays calm

The run-chase started in a blistering manner for the Men in Blue as Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan threw the kitchen sink at everything to build a stand of 67 runs from merely 33 deliveries. Mitchell Starc trapped Dhawan, who raced away to a 22-ball 41 with six fours and a couple of sixes, in front to break the ominous-looking stand. Adam Zampa nipped out Rohit in the next over.

With the quick wickets, the match was back in the balance. KL Rahul’s travails continued and he could manage only 14 runs from 20 balls. However, Virat Kohli didn’t get flustered and racked up his 19th T20I half-century in 34 balls. Rishabh Pant flattered to deceive, but Dinesh Karthik lent his captain appropriate support, scored 22 runs and comfortably guided India over the line.

Here is how Twitter reacted

Great game of cricket tonite. Good fight from Aust but Kohli is the best all round batsmen in world cricket and the most orthodox. All batsmen should take note of how he plays.

— Mark Waugh (@juniorwaugh349) November 25, 2018

Kohli….just too good tonight.#AUSvIND

— Jason Gillespie 🌱🌈 (@dizzy259) November 25, 2018

India has NEVER lost the last T20i of a three match bilateral series… #AusvInd

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) November 25, 2018

👑 Kohli has arrived 🙌😊🙏 #AusvInd

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) November 25, 2018

Kohli over long off. Wow.

— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) November 25, 2018

Carey has some amount of Mike Hussey in his batting….anyone else thinks that way? #AusvInd

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) November 25, 2018

Once again spin influencing the middle overs! #AusvInd #T20

— Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) November 25, 2018

The best pitch of the T20i series. Sensible batting will make it a high scoring match. Liking the way Kohli has used the resources thus far. #AusvInd

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) November 25, 2018

Aussie hopes of winning stymied by @imVkohli’s brilliance. Taste of things to come in the Tests? But that’s in the future. For now, well played under pressure to square the T20 series

— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) November 25, 2018

Virat Kohli has remained Not Out 14 times when chasing in T20Is and India won the match every time. #IndvAus

— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) November 25, 2018

The last time a non-West Indian side won a T20I series against India was in October 2015.#AUSvIND

— Suneer (@suneerchowdhary) November 25, 2018

Serious value from DK, stuck it out and got the big shots out towards the end. Enough match awareness to not do a KL or a Pant.#AusvInd

— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) November 25, 2018

King Kohli
Captain Kohli
King Kohli#INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/Ky3KWkHBw0

— bhaavna arora (@BhaavnaArora) November 25, 2018

Run chases and Virat Kohli: My favorite love story #AUSvIND #ViratKohli

— Madhav Sharma (@HashTagCricket) November 25, 2018

Rohit Sharma's blistering start gave Virat Kohli the confidence to play such a magficient match winning innings. The legend!

— Keh Ke Peheno (@coolfunnytshirt) November 25, 2018

Virat Kohli — batting at No.3 — the position he owns — wins it for India.
Kohli in chases in T20Is
Innings 27
Runs 1231
Average 82.06
50s 13
SR 135
Master of chases

And Dinesh Karthik has remained unbeaten on 9 occasions in T20Is — India have won all 9 games!#AUSvIND #INDvAUS

— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) November 25, 2018

Apart from beard, another common thing between Rahul and Kohli is we are now used to of their current form.

— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) November 25, 2018

Since losing in ICC World T20, 2016 India have not suffered a defeat in a series / tournament consisting of 2 or more result-oriented games. Out of 11 such series India have won 9 and drawn 2.#AUSvIND

— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) November 25, 2018

That match—and particularly the run chase—was a helluva lot of fun. After Dhawan’s stunning shot-making Australia fought really hard to take it deep on a tricky pitch. It was the perfect situation for Kohli though; he now averages 120.62 in successful T20I run chases. #AUSvIND

— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) November 25, 2018

Wonderful innings from Kohli, great at finishing the job and a good win for India. Some of the batters though will be disappointed at not making use of the opportunities. #AusvInd

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) November 25, 2018

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