Simmons shades Kohli as West Indies reaches final
The tone had been set by the reunited Rohit and Rahane, who encountered three tidy early overs before Rohit decided enough was enough. Sulieman Benn was taken for two boundaries, but the big push came in the final over of the Power Play, Russell smashed over the square-leg fence off a waist-high full toss and the resultant free-hit deposited into the sightscreen behind the bowler. When Samuel Badree trapped Rohit in front, India had 62 on the board, on which Rahane and Kohli especially built in excellent fashion.
Rahane did his job but was just starting to overstay his welcome – 40 off 35 with time running out – when he pulled Russell to deep midwicket, the second fiddle in a stand of 66. Even his Mumbai home crowd celebrated the event with gusto, their decibel levels reaching a crescendo as Dhoni promoted himself to No. 4.
The skipper was happy to bask in his deputy’s glory, though he more than held his own with his wonderful scampers between the stumps in a frenetic final burst that fetched 64 off just 27 deliveries. The innings ended in a blaze of momentum and adrenaline, which boiled over when Bumrah knocked Gayle’s off-pole out. But that was as good it got for India.