• Home
  • Match Hub
  • World Cup 2023 Iyer Kl Rahuls Twin Tons Lead Indian Run Fest Before Bowlers Douse Ned

World Cup 2023 | Iyer, KL Rahul’s Twin Tons Lead Indian Run-Fest Before Bowlers Douse NED

image-lovmkkmsKL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer mounted a 208-run partnership vs NED (AP)

Brief Scores: India: 410-4 (50 overs) [Shreyas Iyer: 128* (94), KL Rahul: 102 (64); Bas de Leede 2/82 (10), Roelof van der Merwe 1/53 (10)] defeated Netherlands: 250 all out (47.5 overs) [Teja Nidamanuru: 54 (39), Sybrand Engelbrecht: 45 (80); Mohammed Siraj 2/29 (6), Jasprit Bumrah 2/33 (9)] by 160 runs.

Team India crashed Netherlands’ World Cup 2023 exit party with a huge win as ‘Men in Blue’ storm into the knockouts with an unbeaten streak.

Shreyas Iyer, Rahul lead India’s batting juggernaut

Winning the toss and opting to bat first, Indian captain Rohit Sharma and his opening partner Shubman Gill blazed their way to 91-0 by the end of their first 10 overs. Both cricketers produced sparkling half-centuries in their 100-run stand, which eventually ended with Gill skying one to Teja Nidamanuru at deep backward leg to hand Paul van Meekeren the first wicket of the innings.

Virat Kohli at number three extended his imperious run with the bat by notching up his seventh fifty-plus score of the tournament, before he was done in by an angling delivery from Netherlands warhorse and ex-RCB teammate Roelof van der Merwe.

Kohli’s dismissal paved way for KL Rahul’s arrival to the crease where the wicketkeeper-batsman formed an unlikely alliance with a well-set Shreyas Iyer in the 29th over. Batting out for their side until the penultimate ball of the innings, the two cricketers plundered majestic hundreds to storm India past the 400-run mark.

Iyer top-scored with a thunderous 94-ball 128*, whereas Rahul slapped India’s fastest-ever World Cup ton, reaching the milestone from just 63 deliveries.

While Roelof van der Merwe finished with figures of 1-53 from his 10 overs, the Indian batters accrued 357 runs from the remaining 40 overs to chart up a colossal 410-4 upfront.

Part-timers join bowlers' crusade to defeat NED

Mohammed Siraj sustained his new-ball dexterity by picking up a wicket in his opening over of the innings. Notably, Netherlands’ early voltage was followed by fighting run-chase resistance from opener Max O'Dowd, number three Colin Ackermann and Sybrand Engelbrecht. The three cricketers defied Indian pacers and spinners alike with unyielding knocks, before Teja Nidamanuru bludgeoned six sixes in the backend during his 39-ball 54.

Even though the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja all accounted for two Dutchmen each; Indian captain Rohit Sharma employed himself, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav to have a go at Netherlands’ lower half with the ball.

Kohli and Sharma even claimed a wicket, with the latter landing the finishing flow to fold up Netherlands for 250, thus scripting a 160-run win for his side.