India secured the semifinal berth of the T20 World Cup 2024 after beating Australia by 24 runs in their last Super 8 game in Gros Islet on Monday, June 24. Rohit Sharma's 92 off just 41 balls helped India post a big total of 205 and Australia failed to chase it inside 15.3 overs resulting in India securing an automatic qualification before the game ended.
India became the third team after England and South Africa to qualify for the semifinal. Australia, Bangladesh and Afghanistan battle for the remaining spot as the latter face Bangladesh in the last Super 8 round game in Kingston on Tuesday. India will face the defending champions England in the second semifinal at Providence Stadium in Guyana on June 27. The Three Lions famously defeated India in the semifinal of the 2022 T20 World Cup on their route to becoming champions.
Australia kept the game balanced for the majority of the innings with opener Travis Head smashing 76 runs off just 43 balls and Mitchell Marsh adding quick 37 runs. Kuldeep Yadav proved the game-changer with two timely wickets and Arshdeep Singh picked three wickets to restrict Australia to 181/7 in 20 overs.
India's superior net run rate after big wins over Afghanistan and Bangladesh proved crucial for India to secure an early semifinal qualification. Australia still remain favourites to earn a semifinal spot due to their comparatively net run rate. Afghanistan need just a point to secure the semifinal spot while Bangladesh need to beat Afghanistan by 62 runs to enter the semifinals.
Coming back to the game, India lost their star opener Virat Kohli on a duck in the second over but Rohit's heroics kept India on course to a big total. Rohit smashed a 19-ball fifty, the fastest in this tournament, but missed out on his maiden century by just eight runs. Rohit scored 92 runs off 41 balls with the help of seven fours and eight sixes as India registered the fastest team hundred in tournament history.
Apart from Rohit, only Suryakumar managed to cross a 30-run mark by scoring 31 runs off just 16 balls as India posted the joint-highest total of 205/5 against Australia in the T20 World Cup 2024. Mitchell Starc and Marcus Stoinis picked two wickets each while Hazlewood bagged one for just 14 from his greedy four overs.
Defending a huge total, in-form Arshdeep Singh dismissed the veteran David Warner in the very first over to give India early control of the game. But Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh quickly balanced the game by adding 81 runs for the second wicket inside the first nine overs. Kuldeep proved crucial with timely wickets of Marsh and Glenn Maxwell but Head kept the game alive for the Aussies by smashing a stellar 76 runs off just 43 balls.
Jasprit Bumrah gave India a breakthrough with Head's wicket in the 17th over and then India dominated the remainder of the innings to restrict Australia to 181/7 in 20 overs. Arshdeep bagged three wickets while Kuldeep picked two for 24 to make an impact. Rohit bagged the Player of the Match award for his fiery knock of 92 runs.
T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8 Group 1 Points Table
| Teams | M | W | L | NR | Points | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| India | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2.02 |
| Australia | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -0.33 |
| Afghanistan | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -0.65 |
| Bangladesh | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | -2.49 |
India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah.
Australia Playing XI: Travis Head, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh (c), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.
