India vs Netherlands, T20 World Cup: Surya rises to the occasion, lights up Sydney SKY-line in Indias 56 runs victory

Suryakumar Yadav bullied an inexperienced attack as the Indian team not for once took its foot off the pedal to thrash Netherlands by 56 runs for its second win in the T20 World Cup here on Thursday.

A target of 180, riding on half-centuries from skipper Rohit Sharma (53 off 39 balls), Virat Kohli (62 not out off 44 balls) and Surya (51 not out off 25 balls), was good enough for the Dutchmen who were never in the contest once India's powerplay overs ended.

The 'Orange Brigade' huffed and puffed its way to 123 for nine in 20 overs as the relative slowness of the track post the Bangladesh-South Africa game effected its approach.

Also Read: India vs Netherlands HIGHLIGHTS, T20 World Cup 2022: BIG WIN FOR INDIA, beat Netherlands by 56 Runs — As it happened

The Netherlands was the fourth team to bat on the track, and although there wasn't any considerable wear and tear, it slowed down enough for Axar Patel (2/18) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2/21) to tighten the noose on the opposition batters.

On expected lines, Mohammed Shami (2/9), Arshdeep Singh (2/37) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/27) had an easy day at the office.

Most of the Netherlands batters are not used to consistently playing an attack of this quality.

Indian origin opener Vikramjit Singh (1), whose roots are in Punjab's Cheema Khurd, didn't look like he belonged to this level before Bhuvneshwar Kumar ended his painstaking stay with a perfectly pitched length ball.

Once Ashwin and Axar were pressed into the attack, there was no chance that the Duchmen would make a match of it.

With as many as seven boundaries and a six off the last ball in his kitty, Surya showed why he is India's most important batter in the format.

After opting to bat, Rohit initially struggled with his timing and left-arm seamer Fred Klaassen was unlucky that Tim Pringle made a hash of an easy catch when the Indian captain had mistimed a pull-shot.

But once he connected a hook shot and then drove through the cover point region, he found some rhythm going his way, as the fifty came off 35 balls. His innings had four boundaries and three sixes.

While Rohit attacked, Kohli was happy to let him take the lead but remained alert while taking the singles and converting the ones into twos.

Once Rohit was dismissed, Kohli showed some aggression as his running between the wickets put pressure on the Netherlands attack.

Kohli's fifty came off 37 balls, with three fours and two sixes. But he ran the opposition ragged before allowing Surya to pounce on them for a delicious run-feast.