Virat Kohli’s outstanding 82 not out off 53 balls steered India to a thrilling T20 World Cup victory over Pakistan in a frenzied conclusion that went down to the last ball at a sold-out MCG.
Pakistan’s decision to hold back Mohammad Nawaz until the last over backfired as, with 13 required from three balls, the slow left-armer was adjudged to have bowled an above-waist-height no-ball which was heaved for six by Kohli.
Nawaz’s nerve deserted him as he threw in a wide down the leg-side with two needed off the last ball, after which Ravichandran Ashwin coolly lifted over the in-field for a single as India overhauled Pakistan’s 159 for eight with four wickets to spare.
On more than one occasion India looked sunk in the run-chase, but a 113-run union between Kohli and Hardik Pandya (40 off 37 balls) kept them afloat, with the pair growing in authority as the stand grew.
Kohli, who last month ended a two-and-a-half-year wait for an international century in any format, was particularly watchful after India had slipped to 31 for four, taking just 15 off his first 24 balls.
He seized the moment when it counted, not just off Nawaz but helping to get the target down to a manageable 16 off six with back-to-back sixes from the last two balls of the penultimate over, bowled by Haris Rauf, amid a cacophony of noise from a 90,293 crowd that ratcheted up in a dramatic finale.
