WATCH, IND vs NED | Shivam Dube saves sinking Indian ship with stunning onslaught against spin

India chose to bat first in Ahmedabad in a dead rubber against the Dutch with their spot in the Super Eights stage already secured, hoping to register a dominant victory against the underdogs. However, their plans quickly went awry as Abhishek Sharma departed for a third consecutive duck in the tournament, shortly before Aryan Dutt made it two scalps in his opening spell by dispatching Ishan Kishan after a 18-run blitz. Tilak varma and Suryakumar Yadav brought about some stability with knocks of 31 and 34 respectively but with India 110/4 in the 14th over, the Men in Orange eyed an upset. However, Shivam Dube envisioned a different future and delivered with aplomb.

The burly big-hitter struggled early on, managing just six runs off his first 11 balls, but his eyes lit up as soon as the visitors turned to spin with Colin Ackermann. Dube greeted the offie with a huge maximum, followed by a boundary two balls later before bringing out arguably the shot of the night. Flustered, Ackermann looped up a delivery in the slot on middle and leg and Dube needed no second invitation. The veteran hung abck in his crease, opening up his feet to create roon, and with one clean swing of the willow sent the Kookaburra flying miles into the stands.

Dube ended up smashing four more maximums along with three boundaries to end with 66 off 31, each hit better than the previous one.