New Delhi, Oct 24: India’s phenomenal victory over Pakistan, led by an unbeaten 82 from Virat Kohli, not only supercharged the country’s bid for a first T20 World Cup crown since 2007, but also sent the internet’s meme creators in hyperdrive.
Twitter, Reddit and other social networking sites exploded with reactions, gifs and memes after the stunning last-ball thriller in front of 90,000 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.
The world number one Indians restricted their fierce rivals to 159-8 and scraped home by four wickets after a remarkable final over, with superstar Virat Kohli the hero.
Few sporting rivalries match the passion of India-Pakistan clashes and the atmosphere was electric as it looked to be going badly wrong for India as they struggled to just 45-4 off 10 overs, halfway through their chase.
But Kohli and Hardik Pandya (40) launched a fightback with a century stand that left India needing 16 off the final over from a nervous Mohammad Nawaz, who peppered it with wides and no-balls to help them to their target.
Victory was critical in a group that also includes South Africa, Bangladesh and qualifiers Zimbabwe and the Netherlands, with only the top two making the semi-finals.
India have largely dominated Pakistan since the late 1990s but had lost two of their three previous clashes including by 10 wickets in the group phase at last year’s T20 World Cup and the recent Asia Cup.
But India had been in good recent form, winning home series against Australia and South Africa, riding on the success of their batting line-up.
