Hamilton, It was Mohammed Shami’s last over that won India the third T20I in the Super Over and not his back-to-back sixes, feels Rohit Sharma.
Shami came up with a classic last over just when it looked like Kane Williamson (95) would take the Kiwis home with a batting master-class as they needed nine off six balls. Shami removed both Williamson and the experienced Ross Taylor to tie the game.
“I think Mohammed Shami’s last over was crucial, and actually that got us the victory. Not my two sixes. It was Shami’s over where we defended nine runs. It’s not easy with the dew,” Rohit said.
“The wicket settling in nicely and two set batsmen out there as well… One batsman was batting on 95 and their most experienced player was at the other end. Hats off to Shami to bowl that over and get us back into the game and into the Super Over.”
India’s winning run in the T20s is a good sign leading to the World Cup with everybody cashing in on their opportunities, feels vice-captain Rohit.
India took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match T20I series against New Zealand with a win here on Wednesday. Rohit first scored 65 then hit a brilliant unbeaten 15 (including two sixes) in the Super Over to take India over the line.
“Whenever anyone’s got an opportunity, they have made it count. Shikhar (Dhawan) as well, when he played the last series against Sri Lanka, he got a crucial 50 and then KL (Rahul) has been in good form over the last 7-8 T20s, he’s got probably 4 or 5 fifties,” Rohit said.
“So it’s a good sign for the team. That’s how we look at it. It’s important for most of our players to stay in good form and then what happens with the final XI and everything that will be only decided once all the players are available and the captain and management will sit together and identify who are the right guys to play that particular game. That’s how I look at it,” Hitman Rohit said.
Rohit added that Williamson and Co were hard done by.
“Kane Williamson played a solid innings. Of course their team will feel disappointed about how they could lose such a game. But we have to look at how we came back into the game.”
“The last over that Shami bowled was very important for us and a positive sign because we could play a game like this in the World Cup. Then what do we do.”
