India thrash Bangladesh by 28 runs at Edgbaston on Tuesday to enter the semi-finals of the 2019 Cricket World Cup. This is the 3rd successive semi-finals entry for India. They earlier won the tournament in 2011, lost to Australia in the semi-finals in 2015 and now they got a shot for their 3rd World Cup.
Rohit Sharma the ‘Man of the Match’ score a magnificent century to take India rolling for a mega start. He now is the 2nd batsman after Kumar Sangakkara to hit 4 hundreds in a single World Cup and is the leading run scorer.
KL Rahul hit 66 while Rishabh Pant smashed an enterprising 48. While, Jasprit Bumrah starred with the ball claiming 4 wickets.
While chasing 315, Bangladesh were in the hunt until Shakib Al Hasan fell to Hardik Pandya in the 34th over. Shakib contributed a meaningful 66 while, Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim and Liton Das failed to make themselves useful.
Sabbir Rahman who replaced Mahmudullah in the Bangladesh playing XI on Tuesday, found good support in Mohammad Saifuddin and the duo brought up a 50-run standoff 43 balls in the 41st over. Bangladesh needed 86 off the last 9 overs.
Sabbir Rahman kept Bangladesh on course until he fell to Jasprit Bumrah.
After winning the toss, India opted to bat first. Rohit Sharma who scored 104 off 92 delivers hit 5 sixes in his innings. His fluency and class was top notch. KL Rahul too completed a his half century, but he took his time to cope up.
Rohit and Rahul added 180 for the first wicket – India’s highest opening stand in World Cup history. This was also the highest opening stand for any team in the 2019 World Cup.
Rishabh Pant, playing only his 2nd World Cup match, showed far more intent, he raced to 48 but fell within touching distance of his maiden ODI fifty. MS Dhoni, who was criticised for his previous innings for not taking enough risks thrived scoring 35 off 33 balls.
Bangladesh take on Pakistan on the 5th of July, while India end the league table with Sri Lanka at Leeds on 6th July.
Source : Various