Birmingham: Indias batting in the last 10 overs at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground on Tuesday might have given hope to some fans of a Bangladesh fightback, but two things they forgot — the experience of the Indian bowling attack and the slowness of the wicket.
After all, this was the same pitch where India played England on Sunday. Chasing 315 for a win, Bangladesh folded up for 286 as India not only won the match by 28 runs, but also qualified for the knockout stages.Defending 314, in-form Shakib Al Hasan was the only real threat for the Indian bowlers as the Bangladesh batsmen came out pretty subdued in their chase. And once Hardik Pandya sent back Shakib for 66, caught by Dinesh Karthik, in the 34th over, it was advantage India.
The otherwise dangerous Mushfiqur Rahim also flattered to deceive as he hit a 23-ball 24 before Yuzvendra Chahal got him to sweep one straight to Mohammed Shami at square-leg. Sabbir Rahman (36 off 36 balls) and Mohammad Saifuddin (52 not out off 38 balls) did try their best, but getting 90 runs from the last 10 overs with just four wickets in the bag proved to be a bit too much to expect from the Bangladesh lower-order after the top-order failed to provide the platform required while chasing scores in excess of 300. But credit to Saifuddin for keeping Bangladesh in the game right till the end with a quickfire unbeaten half-century.Earlier, the Men in Blue rode a brilliant 104 from Rohit Sharma — his fourth century in this edition of the showpiece event — to post 314/9 in their 50 overs. Not to forget the brilliant comeback from Mustafizur Rahman as he finished with a fifer. With skipper Virat Kohli opting to bat first, it was all about starting well. And Indian openers Rohit and K.L. Rahul did just that as they took the attack to the Bangladesh bowlers from the word go.In fact, the otherwise cautious Rohit made his intentions clear early into the match as he hit Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza for a six in the very first over of the innings. And with Tamim Iqbal dropping him on 9, it was just the kind of leeway the opener needed to shift gears and deal only in boundaries.Rahul on the other hand was happy to mix caution with aggression as the duo finished the first powerplay on 69/0. The Bangla bowlers wore a confused look as they were clearly short of ideas. Not just the bad balls, even the good deliveries were sent to the boundary as Rohit and Rahul looked like they were keen to break the backbone of the Bangladesh bowling attack. With the Indians looking to up the ante, Mortaza finally turned to Soumya Sarkar in the 30th over and the part-time bowler broke the 180-run opening partnership, the highest in this edition of the World Cup, as he sent back Rohit moments after he reached his 26th ODI ton. (IANS)
India: 314/9 in 50 Overs
Lokesh Rahul c Rahim b Rubel 77
Rohit Sharma c Liton Das b Sarkar 104
Virat Kohli c Rubel b Mustafizur 26
Rishabh Pant c Mosaddek b Shakib 48
Hardik Pandya c Sarkar b Mustafizur 0
MS Dhoni c Shakib b Mustafizur 35
Karthik c Mosaddek b Mustafizur 8
Bhuvneshwar run out (Mustafizur) 2
Mohammed Shami b Mustafizur 1
Jasprit Bumrah not out 0
Extras: (LB-6,W-6,NB-1) 13
Bowling: Mashrafe Mortaza 5-0-36-0,
Mohammad Saifuddin 7-0-59-0,
Mustafizur Rahman 10-1-59-5,
Shakib Al Hasan 10-0-41-1,
Mosaddek Hossain 4-0-32-0, Rubel Hossain 8-0-48-1,
Soumya Sarkar 6-0-33-1.
Bangladesh: 286 all out in 48 overs
Tamim Iqbal b Mohammed Shami 22
Soumya Sarkar c Kohli b Pandya 33
Shakib Al Hasan c Karthik b Pandya 66
Mushfiqur Rahim c Shami b Chahal 24
Liton Das c Karthik b Pandya 22
Mosaddek Hossain b Bumrah 3
Sabbir Rahman b Bumrah 36
Mohammad Saifuddin not out 51
Mashrafe Mortaza c Dhoni b Kumar 8
Rubel Hossain b Bumrah 9
Mustafizur Rahman b Bumrah 0
Extras: (B-1, LB-1, W-10) 12
Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 9-0-51-1,
Jasprit Bumrah 10-1-55-4, Mohammed Shami 9-0-68-1,
Yuzvendra Chahal 10-0-50-1, Hardik Pandya 10-0-60-3.