New Delhi: With the final match day of the Super 12 stage of the Men’s T20 World Cup, the four semi-finalist slots are slowly taking shape. But a lot of cricket is yet to be played before Sunday, starting with the match between India and Bangladesh at the Adelaide Oval on Wednesday afternoon.
lost to south africa Last weekend in Perth means India must win both the remaining matches if the Men in Blue are to cement their place in the semi-finals.
Bangla Tigers stand first in India’s way, and have a shot at making it to the semi-finals if they beat Team India and Pakistan. As such, Bangladeshi captain Shakib Al Hasan’s pre-match remarks that India are strong favorites and that his team should not be expected to win the tournament, suggest that mind games are at play.
Bangladesh Team: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Najmul Hossain Shanto, Liton Das, Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan (wk), Mosaddek Hossain, Yasir Ali, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmood, Shorful Islam
India Squad: Rohit Sharma (capt), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Dinesh Karthik (wk), R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh
Watch all the live action of the IND vs Bangladesh match here:
2.02 hrs over 6 India 37-1 (Rahul 21*, Kohli 13*)
Mustafizur Rahman angled the right-hander to round out the powerplay with his signature slow length delivery. While Rahul gets a pair off the second ball, he continues to struggle to score smoothly on this green Adelaide surface. Commentator Shane Watson predicted that Kohli would approach Fiji as a fast left-arm spinner and that his first ball would go past the slips as Kohli played soft-handed to prevent the chance of a catch.
1.57 hrs over 5 India 30-1 (Rahul 18*, Kohli 9*) – India starts a counterattack but Taskin remains on the money
The third over was given to Taskin as a way of counter-attacking by Shakib due to Rahul’s display of intent. But Taskin makes a rare mistake while overpitching outside off-stump. Kohli fires aggressively, hits consecutive boundaries, one over the cover point infielder and the other a lucky lead at first slip. But Taskin remained as unfazed as ever, he reacted with a back off length delivery and caused Kohli to play and miss. Four points for Taskin after two boundaries in a good comeback
1.52 hrs over 4 India 22-1 (Rahul 18*, Kohli 1*)
After the wicket, Hasan consistently bowls short but sometimes very wide. This leads Rahul to finally go ahead with an accidental four overs at deep third man and then an outstanding six at cover point!
1.48 pm 3.1 over India 11-1 (Rahul 8*) out! Hasan Mahmood compensates for the drop by dismissing Rohit
The guilty fielder, Hasan Mahmood, now comes in to try to make an impact with the ball in the fourth over and he does so immediately, removing Rohit. Hassan bowls it just outside the off stump, Rohit tries to play a square cut at the top to make room for himself but it is not enough and it is straight to Yasir Ali at backward point. Pressure works for Bangla Tigers!
Overs 3 India 11-0 at 1.47 (Rahul 8*, Rohit 2*) – Lat-off for Rohit as Hasan Mahmood drops a regulation catch
A beautiful delivery from Taskin to open the third over, as Rohit was lucky not to get past the wicketkeeper. Rohit responds with more aggressive intent and gives himself room but plays and misses again. He joins the off side on the third ball but can’t beat the infield. A ball later, Rohit attempts to repeat Rahul’s six, but goes straight to the throat of square leg, but the fielder, Hasan Mahmood, drops a full sitter. What a relief for the Indian captain! But Taskin remains unfazed and continues to put India under dot-ball pressure.
Overs 2 at 1.42 hrs India 10-0 (Rahul 8*, Rohit 1*) – Rahul hits the first six but the openers start on aggregate
New man in the side, left-arm pacer Shorful, is relied upon with two slips by the second over and Shakib. Similar to Parnell in Perth but at a slower pace today, Shoreful’s lines and length are disciplined at first but overstepped on his second ball, giving Rahul a much-needed opportunity to release the pressure. But Rahul can’t take advantage of a full ball on his pads and misses a simple blow. Noisy mistakes again on the leg side, allowing Rahul to go on strike, while Rohit takes a single off the very next ball. And it is finally on the last ball of the over that Rahul leaves with a pickup shot at square leg for a 91m six!
1:36 pm: India 1-0 over 1 (Rahul 1*, Rohit 0*) – Taskin picks up early bounce and out-swing in Adelaide
Aiming to set India’s unbroken opening partnership on fire with two slips, Bangladesh in-form express pacer Taskin Ahmed has taken the new ball after the conclusion of the national anthem. And immediately he takes out some bounce and momentum from this Adelaide pitch, forcing KL Rahul to play and miss. Out of form The India opener is quite attentive and allows the next ball to go to the keeper, but fails to read the out-swing on the very next ball.
Shakib responded by hitting third slip almost like a Test match. Shakib also packs off-side with Taskin aiming to hit the area just outside the off-stump. But Rahul finally bats the ball, playing soft-handed to give the strike to his opening partner Rohit. Rohit offers only forward defense on the last ball.
1:10 pm: Bangladesh won the toss and elected to field first, with captain Shakib Al Hasan revealing a change in his lineup that defeated Zimbabwe at the Gabba. Fast bowler Shorful Islam has replaced top-order batsman Soumya Sarkar.
India captain Rohit Sharma says the toss worked in his favor anyway as he would have elected to bat first on this cold day in Adelaide. Rohit also revealed that the Hooda experiment has been short-lived as left-arm spin all-rounder Axar Patel comes back in the starting XI.
read also, ‘We respect each other’s game,’ Suryakumar enjoys growing partnership with Kohli