Virat Kohli caresses classy six off Angelo Mathews: The Indian captain played the shot of the match during his brief stay in the middle.
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During the third T20I of the ongoing Sri Lanka’s tour of India in Pune, India captain Virat Kohli caressed a classy six off Sri Lanka all-rounder Angelo Mathews to please one and all watching the match.
It all happened on the second delivery of the 17th over when Kohli put on display an extension of his defense to hit a nothing ball for a lovely six down the ground. Having used minimal power on the shot, it was all about timing as far as the 31-year old player was concerned.
Kohli, who usually bats at No. 3 in this format, came out to bat at No. 6 in a bid to give opportunities to reserve batsmen. Having hit two fours apart from the six off Mathews, Kohli ended up scoring 26 (17) before getting out.
In addition to Kohli’s batting position, another unusual thing about his innings tonight was him getting run-out by a fair distance. It all happened when Kohli decided to ran an unnecessary second run in the 18th over.
After Sri Lanka captain Lasith Malinga won the toss and invited the hosts to bat first, India posted a formidable 201-6 in 20 overs despite a middle-order collapse. It was a 97-run opening partnership between Lokesh Rahul (54) and Shikhar Dhawan (52) which laid the foundation for such a score.
Virat Kohli caresses classy six off Angelo Mathews
How Twitterati reacted:
First time Virat Kohli scores runs for India while batting at no.6 or lower – after the Adelaide test of 2012, when he hit his first test hundred.
In between, he batted at no.6 once – against Ireland in 2018, but was out for a duck.#INDvsSL
— Kausthub (@kaustats) January 10, 2020
India’s unusual approach has set it up for a very good match
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) January 10, 2020
Rare sight! Kohli run out and by a mile! Don’t remember the last time I’ve seen that! #INDvSL
— Raunak Kapoor (@RaunakRK) January 10, 2020
Never seen Kohli run out by a mile. Have you? Was pushing for the second perhaps realising that if India would be vulnerable less than 190-odd they
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) January 10, 2020
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