Virat Kohli smashed his second consecutive half-century as India thrashed the Netherlands by 56 runs on Thursday.
On the back of their thrilling last-ball victory over Pakistan in Melbourne at the weekend, Kohli also shone with the bat.
A boisterous Sydney Cricket Ground witnessed them plunder 179-2 before holding the Dutch to 123-9.
Partnership
A 73-run partnership between Kohli (62 not out off 44 balls) and Rohit Sharma (53 off 39) was in fine form.
Suryakumar Yadav, arguably the world’s best T20 batsman, also scored 51 as India smashed 112 from the last 10 overs.
The Indian team has a strong record at home, winning back-to-back series against Australia and South Africa.
The Proteas beat Bangladesh earlier in the day, elevating them to the top of Group 2 with four points. Despite two losses in a row, the Dutch remain anchored at the bottom of the standings.
It is likely that two of the six teams will make it to the semi-finals out of the six in the group.
Having won the toss and opted to bat, Indian opener KL Rahul proved ineffective, being trapped LBW by Paul van Meekeren on nine.
It prompted huge roars from the drum-beating, flag-waving crowd as Kohli entered the crease.
Clobbering of Rohit and Virat Kohli
With Rohit and him clobbering some top-class boundaries, India aced the first half of their innings, reaching 67-1.
Ackermann hit Colin Ackermann with a six near the ropes off Fred Klaassen, which gave Rohit his 29th T20 half-century in his 144th game.
In the ensuing runs, Yadav joined Kohli, and there was more ease in the flow of runs.
Kohli reached his second successive 50 and 35th in his T20 career with a single as the pair guided India to a strong total.
When Vikramjit Singh attempted a pull shot and missed, Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck and got his first wicket in his second over.
In the first over, Axar Patel crushed dangerous opener Max O’Dowd for 16, who attempted to sweep and missed.
As a result, the Netherlands were unable to score runs, scoring only 51-3 off 10 overs.
As a result of the spin of Ravi Ashwin, the Netherlands lost their tail as they were easily beaten by the Indian Pacer.
