ICC World T20 final: Virat Kohli lone bright spot in India batting versus Sri Lanka

When Virat Kohli was dropped on 11 by Lasith Malinga in the ICC World T20 final at Mirpur on Sunday, many said it was not just a catch that the Sri Lankan captain dropped but the World Cup trophy. Kohli later proved that right by scoring 77 off just 58 balls, with his blazing knock coming in a first innings this time. Malinga might have been able to make amends for it by giving away just 7 runs off his last over, but a score of 130 could be enough for India to win with their bowling strength in current conditions.

It was another trademark Kohli innings which started with him rotating the strike but as soon as he crossed the 50-run mark, his eighth in T20Is, he started with a flurry of boundaries and sixes. He hit two fours and a six in the 16th over bowled by Nuwan Kulasekara, quickly getting to the seventies off 50 balls. (Scorecard | Live Blog)

A slight scare was given to Indian cricket fans after MS Dhoni's team was asked to bat first on a sweaty wicket. India lost Ajinkya Rahane in the second over to Angelo Mathews but Rohit Sharma combined well with Virat Kohli to take them to almost run-a-ball at the end of 10 overs. After Sharma holed out to Sachitra Senanayake facing Rangana Herath in the 11th over, Kohli once again took charge of India's innings. Interestingly, the rest of India scored just 47 off 62 balls compared to Kohli's 77 off 58.

Yuvraj, at the other end, was struggling to get runs and it was almost as if he was playing on a different pitch. Yuvraj fell after scoring just 11 runs off 21 balls to Nuwan Kulasekara, the same bowler who was given a grand beating by Kohli in the innings earlier.

It was a sad end for Kohli, however, after he was run out by Senanayake on the last ball of Team India's innings. It would have been interesting if Kohli had faced more of Lasith Malinga in the last over, who bowled brilliantly to restrict India to 130/4 at the end of 20 overs.