Picture Credit : BCCI/ICC
India opened their WT20 campaign against USA and it was the USA who won the toss and opted to chase. Ishan Kishan opened the batting with Abhishek Sharma. Saurabh Netravalkar had a tidy start keeping Kishan quiet for the first four balls but it did not last long as Ishan Kishan smashed a six as the crowd found their voice. Things did not go as planned as India lost four early wickets in the powerplay and let us look at how twitter reacted to this collapse by the Indian top order.
Abhishek Sharma could not get going as he was dismissed for a golden duck. It was the second over and Ali Khan bowled a good length delivery outside off and kept a deep cover in play and Abhishek Sharma fell into the trap and hit it straight to the fielder where Sanjay Krishnamurthi took a simple catch. Tilak Varma joined Ishan Kishan in the middle and started really well scoring 24 runs of 14 balls. Ishan Kishan was very lucky as he was dropped a few times and India were 44/1 in 5 overs.
Hadley van Schalkwyk came into bowl the sixth over and completely changed the momentum of the game. Ishan Kishan’s luck ran out as he was dismissed by Schalkwyk for 20 runs of 16 balls as India were 45/2. What followed was something no one could have imagined. Tilak Varma fell next in the fifth ball of the over as India were reduced to 46/3. In walked, Shivam Dube and was dismissed for a first ball duck as the crowd was silenced and no one could believe what was going on. USA players were running from all sides as they were right on top as India were in all sorts of trouble at 46/4 at the end of the powerplay. Schalkwyk bowled a dream spell as he picked up three wickets in his three overs giving away 13 runs.
Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav is at the crease along with Rinku Singh and they are rebuilding the innings as the pressure is completely applied by the USA team. India will be hoping to get a big score and everything will depend on this pair. There is still some batting in the shed with Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel left in the hut and they will be looking for a good second half.
