It was a massive heart-break for the Indian cricket fans when the men-in-blue lost the first T20I to Australia by a whisker on Sunday at Vizag. The seven-wicket defeat hurt Kohli and his brigade so deeply that they returned on Wednesday with the loudest bang.
India entered into the game with three major changes and then KL Rahul perfectly laid the foundation with an outstanding batting performance. There was a little tremor in the middle but captain Kohli and his predecessor MS Dhoni turned the game upside down with their mighty hittings, forcing the crowd to erupt in joy.
While batting on 29, Kohli slammed Nathan Coulter-Nile for a hat-trick of sixes in the 16th over. His unstoppable hitting not only blew the Aussie temperament but took him closer to his 20th fifty in the shortest format of the game.
Here’s the video:
Post this incident, the Indian skipper graduated to his half-century with a single in the next over. He continued his power hitting with Dhoni and then Dinesh, finishing the game in style with the last ball six to power India to a competitive total of 190.
Kohli ended up scoring unbeaten 72 off 38 balls, including 6 sixes and 2 boundaries. He surpassed AB de Villiers to become only the second batsman to hit most sixes (103) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in T20 matches. Universe Boss Chris Gayle leads the table with 150 maximums.
At the same time, the Indian skipper equalled Rohit Sharma's tally of most 50-plus scores in T20Is cricket. Both Kohli and Sharma now have 20 50-plus scores under their belts.