Melbourne: Defending champions India made 302 for six batting first and thumped Bangladesh to seal 109-win in their World Cup quarterfinal at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday.
Here is how the action unfolded.
Rohit Sharma made 137 and Suresh Raina 65 as India accelerated after some tight opening overs by Bangladesh.
Chasing 303 runs to win, Bangladesh openers were watchful till Tamim Iqbal smashed Shami for three boudaries in the fourth over of the innings. The star in Bangladesh’s 2007 World Cup win over India though survived a scare after umpire could not hear the edge and Indian side decided not to opt for a review.
But his part was over when Dhoni took a neat catch off Umesh Yadav’s bowling to give India their first breakthrough. Then came the utter confusion between Imrul Kayes and Soumya Sarkar and India got their second wicket via a run-out.
Kayes tried to steal a single but Jadeja’s brilliance in the field and Yadav’s common sense to qucikly run towards the stumps ended Kayes’ stay in the middle.
Mahmudullah and Sarkar then steadied the ship for a while. But Bangladesh’s hopes of revival were quickly dashed when Shikhar Dhawan dsiplayed superb composure to take neat catch near the boundary rope. The left-hander juggled the catch to send Mahmudullah back to the dressing room.
Then came, MS Dhoni’s turn to pull off a stunner. The man who recently confessed of not having done wicketkeeping drills for three years, took a ripper of a catch to send Sarkar packing. Dhoni dived towards his left side, almost close to a potential first slip.
India landed another blow to dent Bangladesh after they crossed the 100-run mark. Ravindra Jadeja, who dazzled in the field, struck to dismiss Shakib Al Hasan in the 29th over. Mohammed Shami, who was stationed at short third-man, took an easy catch.
As soon as the batting powerplay was introduced, Bangladesh lost their sixth wicket. Umesh Yadav grabbed his second wicket as Dhoni took a neat catch to end Mushfiqur Rahim’s stay in the middle.
Nasir Hossain and Sabbir Rahman put up some fight. But their effort was never enough. Ravindra Jadeja removed Nasir Hossain to give India their seventh wicket. Ashwin, who was standing in the covers, took a low catch.
Then struck Mohit Sharma to end Mortaza’s World Cup. In came Rubel Hossain and the cameras zoomed onto Virat Kohli’s face with whom Hossain had an altercation.
But he could only last for three balls and gave Ashwin an easy catch. The final wicket fell in the same over when Sabbir Rahman top-edged one to the third-man where Mohammed Shami took a simple catch to seal India’s 109-run win and confirmed their entry in the semifinals of the World Cup.
No side has made more than 300 batting second to win a one-day international at the MCG.
Earlier, Rohit Sharma’s first World Cup hundred fuelled India to 302 after they elected to bat.
India were off to a solid start as Rohit Sharma looked in a fine touch hitting boundaries with a lot of ease and more importantly, without offering any chnaces to Bangladesh.
Dhawan, meanwhile, faced a run-out scare in the fifth over as he slipped. But fortunately for India, that did not cause any damage to Team India.
Post that the duo faced no trouble as it brought up fifty-run partnership in the tenth over.
Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan remained largely untested as Bangladesh bowlers did not put them under any sort of pressure. Dhawan, though, faced some issues with the sightscreen and made Rubel Hossain stop twice in his run-up.
Bangladesh then introduced their premier player Shakib Al Hasan into the attack in the 17th over. The all-rounder wasted no time as he removed Dhawan in his over to give Bangladesh their first breakthrough.
The Indian left-hander dragged his foot forward and wicketkeeper wasted no time to dislodge the bails.
Bangladesh struck big quickly when Rubal Hossain removed Kohli for a paltry score of three. The Indian vice-captain tried to chase a wide delivery and hit it through the covers but ended up edging it to the wicketkeeper.
The Bangladesh bowlers did a fantastic job of restricting the run flow by bowling tight lengths. While the Indian batsmen tried hard, the runs were not easy to come by. India brought up their hundred but their joy was short-lived as Taskin dismissed Rahane after the right-hander had scored 19.
