The Indians started the match on the back of their thrilling final-ball win over Pakistan in Melbourne over the weekend, where Kohli also acted with the bat.
They brought some of that energy to rob 179-2 at the Sydney Cricket Ground before putting the spirited Dutch to 123-9 in front of 36,000 fans.
Kohli (62 not out in 44 balls) and captain Rohit Sharma (53 off 39) were both in good shape with a 73-run stand.
Suryakumar Yadav, arguably the best T20 batsman in the world in current form, smashed a 25-ball 51 as India posted 112 runs in the last 10 overs.
“I thought it was a clinical win. When you are expected to win, the pressure is immense. It was the perfect game for us,” Rohit said.
“Yes, we played a little slow in the beginning, but it was a conversation between me and Virat, we had to wait on that surface to play the big shots.
“Not very happy with my half-centuries, but what is important is to score runs – it doesn’t matter if they are good looking runs or ugly runs.”
India had a stellar World Cup appearance, winning consecutive home series against Australia and South Africa, as they targeted their first global silverware since the 2013 Champions Trophy.
Thursday’s impressive win propelled them to the top of Group 2, three points ahead of South Africa, after the Proteas demolished Bangladesh earlier in the day. The Dutch remain at the bottom after two out of two losses.
Two of the six teams from the group will advance to the semi-finals.
Dutch captain Scott Edwards said: “Definitely the most noisy crowd I’ve played in. It was a great experience.”
“Chasing 180 was always going to be difficult. Thought we bowled really well, but if you don’t get wickets, it’s hard to restrict them along the batting order.”
– Flowing – After winning the toss and electing to bat in the first T20 between the two teams, Indian opener KL Rahul failed to fire again, was dismissed lbw for nine by Paul van Meeckeren.
It brought superstar Kohli to the crease – a huge roar from the drumming, flag-waving crowd.
He and Rohit overcame some top-class boundaries, but the stiff Dutch attack prevented them from running away with it, restricting India to 67-1 at the halfway point of the innings.
Rohit completed his 29th T20I half-century in his 144th game, smashing four sixes along the way, before Colin Ackerman took a Fred Klaasen delivery to the ropes before he was looking for another.
Yadav joined Kohli and the runs began to flow more freely.
Kohli rose to the second 50th and 35th in his T20 career as the pair lit up the innings with a last-ball six to take India to a strong total.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar sent down a maiden to kick things off in a Dutch reply and got his first wicket in his second over when Vikramjit Singh went for a pullshot but missed and the ball hit the bail.
Spinner Axar Patel was brought into the attack early and struck with his second ball, claiming dangerous opener Max O’Dowd was bundled out for 16, but missed.
It was difficult to score runs and Netherlands crawled just 51-3 in 10 overs.
Ravi Ashwin’s spin caused all kinds of problems and he removed Ackerman (17) and Tom Cooper (9) in the same over when he went for the big hit, with Netherlands’ tail barely wagging.
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