Overwhelming favourites India, thwarted a spirited Bangladesh to seal a place in the last four, at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
Winning the toss & electing to bat was a no brainer, & the Indian openers Rohit & Rahul made merry of the batting friendly pitch. Rohit got a huge reprieve, when Tamim clumsily dropped a sitter at square leg in the fifth over. Bangladesh paid a heavy price for this slip, & probably lost the match there itself, as Rohit went on to clobber 104 runs in 92 deliveries, before mistiming a lofted drive & getting caught out at extra cover. This was Rohit's fourth ton in this tournament, equalling Sangakkara's record of 2015 edition. The score board read an ominous 180 for 1 in the 30th over, & the hapless Bengal Tigers were staring into the barrel for a 350+ score. However, Indian batsmen thereafter failed to capilatise on the platform & wickets fell after promising starts. Rahul got out for a well made 77, when he was looking good for a century, Virat perished at 26, his first below 50 score in this tournament, & Hardik left without a run - suddenly India were at 237 for 4 in the 39th over. Young Rishabh Pant batted fearlessly as ever, scoring a breezy 48 from 41 deliveries, but others got stuck - Dhoni struggled for a run a ball 35, Dinesh Karthik too perished trying to force the pace & India were left stranded at 314 for 9, as left handed Mustafizur Rehman scalped 5 wickets for 59 runs to restrict the Indian batting flow, as India could muster only 63 runs in the last 10 overs, - it was short by at least 35-40 runs, from where Rohit & Rahul had build the opening partnership, but it was still a formidable total for Bangladesh to chase.
It was the same pitch, where England had beaten India last Sunday, where the track was flat & full of runs, but progressively turning slower, as the match progressed.
In reply, Bangladesh started well, but lost momentum, as wickets kept falling at regular intervals. There were useful contributions from almost all batters, getting a start & perishing, thanks to alert Indian fielding & pressing pace of Bumrah, Bhuvi & Shami. They looked competitive in the game, throughout, not letting the asking rate go out of hands, even after losing in form Shakib, who made his 6th 50+ score of the tournament, getting 66 pleasing runs. Late order batsmen Saifuddin & Sabbir raised hopes with a 66 runs partnership in even time, but when Sabbir & the capt Mortaza left in quick succession, & it was virtual curtains for Bangladesh. Saifuddin who played an enterprising & unbeaten knock of 51 runs in just 38 deliveries, needed the tailenders to support him at other end, but Bumrah, coming in to bowl the 48th over mopped up the batting with two wickets. Pandya scalped 3 crucial wickets, while Bumrah grabbed 4, as the Indian bowlers strangulated the Bangladeshi batsmen's fighting resolve. Bangladesh's spirited attempt fell short by 28 runs, & with that, also ended their slender semi final hopes. They now play Pakistan in their last game on friday, more for pride & redemption. They have been really competitive in this tournament, scalping South Africa & West Indies, & coming close with India & New Zealand. They will fancy their chance to complete the campaign with a morale boosting win against Pakistan & head back home.
India becomes the 2nd team to qualify for the semis & now a three way race between New Zealand, England & Pakistan ensues to grab the other two slots.
Rohit today became the highest run getter for the tournament thus far with 544 runs, followed closely by Shakib Hasan at 542, & then Warner at 516.
Indian batting at the death overs, is still a concern as Dhoni's legendary pyrotechnics are waning with age, as is the brittle middle order's ability to force the pace. On a day, if the top three fail, or Rohit does not get an early reprieve, India might struggle. The bowling looks lethal & capable of taking wickets, though the spinners have gone for a few, as has Shami in the death overs. The fielding has room for improvement - all these niggles & injury issues could be tackled in the last game against Sri Lanka, which could be used for experimentations, while preparing for the knock out stage.
Winning the toss & electing to bat was a no brainer, & the Indian openers Rohit & Rahul made merry of the batting friendly pitch. Rohit got a huge reprieve, when Tamim clumsily dropped a sitter at square leg in the fifth over. Bangladesh paid a heavy price for this slip, & probably lost the match there itself, as Rohit went on to clobber 104 runs in 92 deliveries, before mistiming a lofted drive & getting caught out at extra cover. This was Rohit's fourth ton in this tournament, equalling Sangakkara's record of 2015 edition. The score board read an ominous 180 for 1 in the 30th over, & the hapless Bengal Tigers were staring into the barrel for a 350+ score. However, Indian batsmen thereafter failed to capilatise on the platform & wickets fell after promising starts. Rahul got out for a well made 77, when he was looking good for a century, Virat perished at 26, his first below 50 score in this tournament, & Hardik left without a run - suddenly India were at 237 for 4 in the 39th over. Young Rishabh Pant batted fearlessly as ever, scoring a breezy 48 from 41 deliveries, but others got stuck - Dhoni struggled for a run a ball 35, Dinesh Karthik too perished trying to force the pace & India were left stranded at 314 for 9, as left handed Mustafizur Rehman scalped 5 wickets for 59 runs to restrict the Indian batting flow, as India could muster only 63 runs in the last 10 overs, - it was short by at least 35-40 runs, from where Rohit & Rahul had build the opening partnership, but it was still a formidable total for Bangladesh to chase.
It was the same pitch, where England had beaten India last Sunday, where the track was flat & full of runs, but progressively turning slower, as the match progressed.
In reply, Bangladesh started well, but lost momentum, as wickets kept falling at regular intervals. There were useful contributions from almost all batters, getting a start & perishing, thanks to alert Indian fielding & pressing pace of Bumrah, Bhuvi & Shami. They looked competitive in the game, throughout, not letting the asking rate go out of hands, even after losing in form Shakib, who made his 6th 50+ score of the tournament, getting 66 pleasing runs. Late order batsmen Saifuddin & Sabbir raised hopes with a 66 runs partnership in even time, but when Sabbir & the capt Mortaza left in quick succession, & it was virtual curtains for Bangladesh. Saifuddin who played an enterprising & unbeaten knock of 51 runs in just 38 deliveries, needed the tailenders to support him at other end, but Bumrah, coming in to bowl the 48th over mopped up the batting with two wickets. Pandya scalped 3 crucial wickets, while Bumrah grabbed 4, as the Indian bowlers strangulated the Bangladeshi batsmen's fighting resolve. Bangladesh's spirited attempt fell short by 28 runs, & with that, also ended their slender semi final hopes. They now play Pakistan in their last game on friday, more for pride & redemption. They have been really competitive in this tournament, scalping South Africa & West Indies, & coming close with India & New Zealand. They will fancy their chance to complete the campaign with a morale boosting win against Pakistan & head back home.
India becomes the 2nd team to qualify for the semis & now a three way race between New Zealand, England & Pakistan ensues to grab the other two slots.
Rohit today became the highest run getter for the tournament thus far with 544 runs, followed closely by Shakib Hasan at 542, & then Warner at 516.
Indian batting at the death overs, is still a concern as Dhoni's legendary pyrotechnics are waning with age, as is the brittle middle order's ability to force the pace. On a day, if the top three fail, or Rohit does not get an early reprieve, India might struggle. The bowling looks lethal & capable of taking wickets, though the spinners have gone for a few, as has Shami in the death overs. The fielding has room for improvement - all these niggles & injury issues could be tackled in the last game against Sri Lanka, which could be used for experimentations, while preparing for the knock out stage.
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