Dube, Varun star in India’s win

Varun Chakravarthy (3/14) returned with three wickets after Shivam Dube (66) shone in the first innings as India topped Group A with a 17-run victory over Netherlands in the T20 World Cup here on Wednesday.

After posting 193/6, India restricted the Dutch to 176/7 in 20 overs to record their fourth win in a row in the tournament.

Bas de Leede top scored with 33 as the Netherlands batters kept fighting till the end.

Earlier, Dube’s 31-ball 66 took India to a daunting 193/6.

Abhishek Sharma fell for a third consecutive duck, while other batters, including Ishan Kishan (18), Tilak Varma (31) and Suryakumar Yadav (34) made key contributions.

Hardik Pandya (30) and Dube then put on 76 runs for the fifth wicket.

Aryan Dutt (2/19) was the pick among bowlers for the Dutch.

Earlier, Netherlands off-spinner Aryan Dutt bowled a stellar spell in the powerplay as India’s struggles against spinners continued in the T20 World Cup, scampering to 193 for six. It was only in the second half of the innings that Shivam Dube (66 off 31) was able to break the shackles by hitting a barrage of sixes. Opting to bat, India were hoping for Abhishek Sharma’s return to form ahead of the Super 8 stage but the left-hander had to endure his third consecutive duck in the tournament.

Brief scores:

India 193/6 in 20 overs (Shivam Dube 66; Aryan Dutt 2/19) beat Netherlands 176/7 in 20 overs (Bas de Leede 33; Varun Chakravarthy 3/14, Shivam Dube 2/35) by 17 runs.