T20 World Cup 2022: The way Kohli and Yadav played in the middle, it was always going to be tricky – Scott Edwards

Netherlands captain Scott Edwards feels the way Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav played in the middle, it was always going to be tricky for them. India posted a par score of 179 after Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bat first.

Rohit Sharma was able to get back among the runs as the Indian captain scored 53 runs from 39 balls. India was 86-2 after 12 overs when Suryakumar Yadav came out to bat and joined Virat Kohli in the middle.

Yadav was able to hit the ground running while Kohli continued his good form going. The duo added 95 runs off just 48 balls as both of them played at the top of their games. Kohli went on to score a fine knock of 62 runs off 44 balls whereas SKY scored a blistering knock of 51 runs off just 25 balls.

Thus, the pair played an instrumental role in helping India post a par score on the board.

In reply, the Netherlands could only manage 123-9 in their 20 overs and ergo India went on to win by a convincing margin of 56 runs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Axar Patel snared two wickets each while Shami took one wicket. India was right on the money with the ball and the Dutch players had no answers.

Scott Edwards said in the post-match presentation, “Definitely the noisiest (atmosphere), some of the chants that were going around made it difficult to speak to the players sometimes, but it was an awesome experience. We came here to win and put on a good performance, but against these sort of sides you have to be on the money or they make you pay. The way those two batters played in the end and took them to 180, it was always going to be tricky. We bowled reasonably well but if you don’t get the wickets and with the batting order they have, it was always going to be tough to restrict them. It gets bigger and better, doesn’t it. Looking forward to it (the Pakistan game) and hopefully we can put up a better performance.”

India was able to tick the right boxes and came up with a fine performance against the inexperienced Netherlands team. The Scott Edwards-led team did a decent job with the ball but they lacked the firepower with the bat.

The Netherlands will next take on the Pakistan at the Perth Stadium, Perth on Sunday.