Ahmedabad: Varun Chakravarthy (3/14) returned with three wickets after Shivam Dube (66) shone in the first innings as India topped Group A with a 17-run victory over the Netherlands in the T20 World Cup here on Wednesday.
Bas de Leede top-scored with 33 as the Netherlands batters kept fighting till the end.
Deciding to bat, India posted 193/6 in 20 overs, riding on a blistering middle-order assault by Shivam Dube, who played a sensational knock, smashing 66 off 31 deliveries. His aggressive performance completely shifted the momentum in India’s favour after a terrible start. Captain Suryakumar Yadav chipped in with a crucial 34, while Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma contributed 30 and 31, respectively.
However, India suffered an early setback when Abhishek Sharma was dismissed for a duck, marking his third consecutive duck in the tournament. But other batters stepped up in difficult times to take India to a big total. For the Netherlands, spinner Aryan Dutt struck twice in the early overs to keep things tight. Later, pacer Logan van Beek impressed with three wickets.
Chasing 194, the Netherlands struggled to build the momentum from the start, with Indian bowlers maintaining pressure. No Netherlands batter managed to anchor the innings. Bas de Leede top-scored with 33 runs. Meanwhile, Varun Chakaravarthy picked up three wickets and Shivam Dube two to restrict the Netherlands to 176/7 in 20 overs.
