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Virat Kohli's classy ton powers India to emphatic win over Bangladesh in ODI World Cup
Rohit and Co turned in a special performance to earn their fourth victory on the trot.
Seven hours of play at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium on Thursday told us little we didn’t already know. We were aware that India’s bowlers have been performing as a pack. Their batters have been in pristine touch. Bangladesh’s batters have been prone to squandering a good situation. Their bowlers have lacked firepower.
The proceedings on Thursday didn’t veer from the norm, and so India’s juggernaut rolls on. Their seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh has extended their streak at this World Cup to four wins out of four. The night ended with fireworks and chants of ‘Kohli...Kohli...’ reverberating around the stadium after Virat Kohli clobbered a six over midwicket to finish unbeaten on 103. It was telling that Kohli’s hunt for a century – his 48th in ODI cricket -- was the only matter of intrigue in the closing stages of the game.
To add to the consistency with bat and ball, India were also excellent in the field on Thursday with KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja grabbing great catches. It should set the stage for an enthralling contest with New Zealand, who also have four wins, in Dharamsala on Sunday. The only sour note for India from the day was Hardik Pandya straining his ankle in the ninth over and playing no further part in the game.
Having restricted Bangladesh to 256/8 -- the Indian spinners pulled it back after a 93-run stand between openers Tanzid Hasan and Litton Das -- the response was predictably positive. They had taken the aggressive route in successful run chases against Afghanistan and Pakistan, and there was no reason to alter their approach, especially on a belter of a pitch akin to the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
Boundaries flowed right from the first over, each appearing to be a delightful confluence of grace and power. Both openers were off the mark with fours, Rohit Sharma driving Shoriful Islam through cover point and Shubman Gill flicking Mustafizur Rahman through the gap between mid-on and square leg.
They wouldn't break a bead of sweat in reaching the 50-run stand in nine overs. And on doing so, Gill celebrated by stepping out and lofting Nasum Ahmed's left-arm spin over long on for six. A delivery later, Gill would again give the charge, this time clearing long-off for the same outcome.
By the time Sharma was dismissed -- ironically to a short ball that he had already dispatched twice with disdain -- he had made 48 in India's 88-run opening stand.
As if India needed any more generosity, Hasan Mahmud's first two deliveries to Kohli were no-balls. Kohli cleared his front leg and swatted the first free hit past mid-on for four before connecting the next for a six.
Gill’s captivating stay ended when he tried to add another six to his tally. He gave off-spinner Mehidy Hasan the charge and seemed to connect, only not well enough to evade Mahmudullah at the deep midwicket boundary. Shreyas Iyer too gave in to the temptation of a big hit and perished, but Kohli kept his head down and finished the job. Such chases are right down his alley, allowing him to scamper for ones and twos with the odd boundary to boot.
It didn’t seem so straightforward when India, for the first time in this World Cup, didn’t take a wicket in the first ten overs. Tanzid, 22, began by greeting Mohammed Siraj with a drive for four through the cover region. When Jasprit Bumrah pitched short, the left-hander showed he can also get inside the line and hook over fine leg for six.
Having gauged the pace of the pitch, Das too started taking on the bowlers. Pandya's first over became his last of the afternoon when Das creamed successive boundaries, the second of which saw the all-rounder twist his ankle in an effort to stop the ball that was hit straight back.
In Shardul Thakur's opening over, Hasan hammered 16 runs. He swatted a back of a length delivery towards backward square leg for six with a flick of the wrists. A slightly fuller length and Hasan stepped out to hit over mid-on for four. A slower ball was walloped over mid-off for another six.
Sharma's visible frustration meant he turned to spin with Bangladesh on 63/0 at the 10-over mark.
And not for the first time, Kuldeep Yadav and Jadeja didn't let Sharma down. Yadav was the first to strike, trapping Hasan leg-before on 51. The ball was pushed through by the left-arm wrist spinner, getting past Hasan's attempted sweep to end Bangladesh's highest opening stand (93) in World Cup history. Jadeja soon joined in, again with a quicker delivery that beat stand-in skipper Najmul Shanto’s defence for a straightforward leg-before decision.
Sharma now went back to Siraj, who struck in the second over of his second spell. It had little to do with the bowler though and a lot to do with Rahul’s brilliance behind the stumps. Miraz must have been expecting four runs after glancing a length ball fine on the leg side, but what he instead found was Rahul diving and sticking out his left hand for a remarkable catch.
With Bangladesh three down and missing Shakib Al Hasan's experience in the middle order, it seemed incumbent on Das to buckle down and try to bat through. That's not what he thought though. In the 28th over, an inexplicable charge at Jadeja ended in gloom as Das miscued his attempted slog to Gill at long off.
Jadeja simply couldn't be kept out of the action. Just after finishing his bowling duties for figures of 10-0-38-2, he would dive to his right and complete a catch rivalling Rahul's effort. Bumrah was the beneficiary, accounting for Mushfiqur Rahim.
At 201/6 with a little more than seven overs still remaining, it was Mahmudullah's 36-ball 46 that took Bangladesh to their eventual total. He may have added a few more had Bumrah not delivered a toe-crushing yorker in the final over.
