Walk in the park for The Men in Blue against the Netherlands

Rohit, Kohli and Suryakumar hit half-centuries to set a formidable target; bowlers complement batters’ efforts capitalising on the Dutch endeavour to make a chase of it

Thursday dawned with glorious sunshine and as the Sydney Cricket Ground geared up for a double-header, a brief spell of rain raised the odd doubt. But the weather cleared and as the day wore on, cricket prevailed.

Minutes after the match between South Africa and Bangladesh concluded, a sea of blue seeped into the stands.

The Indian fans, still nursing the hangover of the triumph against Pakistan, had another win to savour as Rohit Sharma’s men defeated the Netherlands by 56 runs in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup Super 12 Group 2 match.

After India posted 179 for two with skipper Rohit, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav being among the runs, the Netherlands had a mountain to climb and paused at 123 for nine.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled a maiden over and even if Max O’Dowd tried to hustle, the seamer had Vikramjit Singh in a tangle and slipped one into the citadel. Left-arm spinner Axar Patel prised out O’Dowd and Bas de Leede while the batters attempted to hasten the scoring rate.

R. Ashwin then struck twice in an over and even if Tim Pringle hoisted the off-spinner for a six, he couldn’t get past an agile Kohli while trying to loft Mohammed Shami. The rest failed as India seized the contest.

Earlier, Rohit won the toss, elected to bat and watched his opening partner K.L. Rahul exhilarate and exasperate in equal measure. Rahul drove a four off Fred Klaassen in the first over but when Paul van Meekeren ran in, the India vice-captain was trapped in front. Just as Rahul lapsed into silence, a roar emanated from the venue with Kohli walking in.