 "India pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh collected a couple of wickets each against Bangladesh, the former conceding only 13 runs in four overs including a boundary. AFP")
India continued to shine bright in the T20 World Cup, hammering Bangladesh by 50 runs in Antigua to extend their unbeaten run in the tournament and inch closer to the semi-finals as a result. India posted 196/5 on the board — their highest total of the tournament so far — after Bangladesh opted to field, and would later restrict the Tigers to 146/8 in reply to virtually eliminate them from the race to the semi-finals.
Captain Rohit Sharma got the Men in Blue off to a rapid start, smashing three fours and a six before getting dismissed by Shakib Al Hasan to depart for 23 off 11 balls. With the prized wicket of the Indian skipper, Shakib became the first bowler to collect 50 wickets in the T20 World Cup.
India would remain in contention for a 180-plus total thereafter thanks to a flurry of 30s from the trio of Virat Kohli (37), Rishabh Pant (36) and Shivam Dube (34). Suryakumar Yadav, who had scored back-to-back fifties in the last two games, was dismissed right after opening his account with a six off his first delivery, departing in the same over from Tanzim Hasan Sakib as Kohli.
Pandya not only stayed at the crease till the very end, he also launched a late assault that helped India go past the 180-mark and nearly breach 200 for the first time in the ongoing tournament. He brought up his half-century with a boundary off Mustafizur Rahman off the very last ball of the innings.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsPandya later halted Bangladesh’s early charge by breaking the opening partnership at the 35-run mark. Kuldeep Yadav, the pick of the Indian bowlers with figures of 3/19, would then strike thrice in as many overs to reduce Bangladesh to 98/4 inside the 14th over, at which point the target was already appearing beyond Bangladesh’s reach.
Jasprit Bumrah would have another productive day in office with figures of 2/13, helping build pressure on the opposition with dot balls and ensuring the match was virtually over even before the Bangladeshi chase entered the death overs. Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh too collected a couple of wickets to move to the second spot in the wicket-takers’ list in the ongoing tournament.
The victory ensured India continued to sit atop Group 1 in the Super 8s with an excellent Net Run Rate (NRR) of +2.425. It will take an extraordinary turn of events for Rohit and Co to get knocked out from here.