In a crucial match of T20 World Cup, India defeated Bangladesh by five runs (DLS) in a rain-affected Super 12 match on Wednesday at the Adelaide Oval
The win lifted India from the second to the top spot on the Group 2 table and took their overall tally to six points from four games, brightening their prospects of making it to the semifinals.
In chase of 185, Bangladesh were off to a flier thanks to opener Litton Das peppering the boundary to bring up a blistering half-century. Das dominated the opening stand and took the team’s score to 60/0 in the Powerplay with 56 of those coming from his bat while Najmul Santo contributed just four.
At 66/0 in 7 overs, Bangladesh were progressing along nicely in the chase but then rain arrived in Adelaide and once it subsided, a revised target was set. Bangladesh now needed to score 151 from 16 overs meaning they required 85 runs from 54 deliveries.
And then came a moment of individual brilliance with KL Rahul, who earlier ended his poor run of form with a fine half-century, produced a direct hit from the deep midwicket to run out Das on 60 off 27.
That dismissal triggered a shift in momentum and India capitalised on the chance to tighten the noose. A collapse followed and Bangladesh eventually finished with 145/6 in 16 overs.
However, the contest went down to the wire with Bangladesh requiring 20 off the final over. Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh conceded a single off the first before Nurul Hasan launched the second high into the night sky for a six to keep the contest alive.
A dot ball followed and then a couple before Nurul sliced the penultimate delivery for four to leave the equation to seven off one. And off that, Bangladesh managed just one.
India were put in to bat first after Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and they lost opener Rohit Sharma cheaply on 2. However, Rahul was then joined by the in-form Virat Kohli and the pair repaired the early damage by adding 67 runs for the second wicket.
Rahul was out right after reaching his half-century. Kohli then peeled off his third century of the ongoing world cup and stitched another vital partnership with Suryakumar Yadav who looked in complete control before his innings was cut short on 30 off 16.
Bangladesh dented India’s progress with some quick blows as Hardik Pandya (5), Dinesh Karthik (7) and Axar Patel (7) fell in quick succession. However, Kohli remained firm and provided the late flourish to push the total forward.
Kohli remained unbeaten on 64 off 44, an innings that featured eight fours and a six. And Ravichandran Ashwin struck a six and a four in his unbeaten 6-ball 13 to take India to what 184/6 in 20 overs.
Both the teams will now return to action on Sunday for their respective final Super 12 matches – India will face Zimbabwe while Bangladesh will be up against Pakistan.
