India inch closer to semifinals after nervy victory against Bangladesh

Adelaide, November 2

Inaugural champions India put a foot in the semifinals of the T20 World Cup following their nervy five-run victory against Bangladesh in a rain-hit Group 2 humdinger here today.

Virat Kohli made an unbeaten 64 to maintain his red-hot form and KL Rahul (50) ended his run drought as they fired India to a commanding 184/6 at the Adelaide Oval.

Chasing a revised target of 151 in 16 overs following a rain interruption, Bangladesh looked on course with Litton Das (60) going great guns but his exit unhinged his side who eventually finished on 145/6.

India moved to the top of their group with six points, one ahead of South Africa who have played one game less.

“Shortened games can go either way... but we held our nerves pretty well when the game started after the break,” India captain Rohit Sharma said. “Some of the catches we took today under pressure, it was great to watch.”

Put in to bat, India did not have the best of starts with Taskin Ahmed proving quite a handful even though the seamer went wicketless.

Hasan Mahmud (3/47) dropped Sharma in the deep but almost immediately made amends dismissing the batter for two.

Kohli, who was adjudged the Player of The Match, did not look convincing initially but was soon in his elements, while Rahul also looked in great touch at the other end.

With scores of 4,9,9 in his previous three matches, Rahul was under pressure to justify his selection and the opener responded by clubbing four sixes en route a 31-ball fifty as India reached 86/2 at the halfway stage.

Suryakumar Yadav played a typically breezy 30 off 16 balls on a day he replaced Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan as the top-ranked T20 batter.

Das’ fifty in vain

Das gave Bangladesh a rollicking start scoring 56 of Bangladesh’s 60 runs in the first six powerplay overs.

He raced to a 21-ball fifty before rain halted play with Bangladesh on 66 for no loss after seven overs.

When play resumed with a revised target, Das was beaten by Rahul’s direct throw from deep midwicket and it triggered a batting collapse.

Bangladesh needed 20 in the last over from Arshdeep Singh and Nurul Hasan hit a six and a four but it was not enough in the end.

“It’s been the story when we play India. We’re almost there but we never cross the finishing line,” Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan rued. — Reuters

Scoreboard

India

Runs Balls 4s 6s

KL Rahul c Mustafizur b Shakib 50 32 3 4

Rohit Sharma c Ali b Mahmud 2 8 0 0

Virat Kohli not out 64 44 8 1

Suryakumar Yadav b Shakib 30 16 4 0

Hardik Pandya c Ali b Mahmud 5 6 0 0

Dinesh Karthik run out 7 5 1 0

Axar Patel c Shakib b Mahmud 7 6 1 0

Ravichandran Ashwin not out 13 6 1 1

Extras: (lb 1, NB 3, w 2) 6

Total: (6 wickets, 20 overs) 184

FOW: 1-11, 2-78, 3-116, 4-130, 5-150, 6-157

Bowling O M R W

Taskin Ahmed 4 0 15 0

Shoriful Islam 4 0 57 0

Hasan Mahmud 4 0 47 3

Mustafizur Rahman 4 0 31 0

Shakib Al Hasan 4 0 33 2

Bangladesh (Target: 151 off 16 overs)

Runs Balls 4s 6s

Najmul Shanto c Yadav b Shami 21 25 1 1

Litton Das run out 60 27 7 3

Shakib Al Hasan c sub b Arshdeep 13 12 2 0

Afif Hossain c Yadav b Arshdeep 3 5 0 0

Yasir Ali c Arshdeep b Pandya 1 3 0 0

Nurul Hasan not out 25 14 2 1

Mosaddek Hossain b Pandya 6 3 0 1

Taskin Ahmed not out 12 7 1 1

Extras: (lb 2, w 2) 4

Total: (6 wickets, 16 overs) 145

FOW: 1-68, 2-84, 3-99, 4-100, 5-102, 6-108

Bowling O M R W

Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3 0 27 0

Arshdeep Singh 4 0 38 2

Mohammed Shami 3 0 25 1

Axar Patel 1 0 6 0

Ravichandran Ashwin 2 0 19 0

Hardik Pandya 3 0 28 2

Player of the Match: Virat Kohli

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