Picture : Twitter/ ICC
India overcame a spirited challenge from Bangladesh to clinch a crucial 5 run win in a rain hit thriller at Adelaide . The win puts India in top of the group and one step into the semis .
Put into bat by Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan , India lost skipper Rohit Sharma for 2. Under fire for three failures , Vice – captain K L Rahul finally came good at the top and played the way he is known for . Some clean hitting shots and , wrist work and timing. K L Rahul scored a fine 31 ball 50. ( 3 fours and 4 sixes) . In- from Suryakumar Yadav got going immediate and looked dangerous in 16 ball 30 with 4 fours.
Virat Kohli has been in imperious form and he once again after a watchful start exploded to score a fine unbeaten 44 ball 64 to anchor the Indian innings . Kohli hit 8 fours 1 six. India though lost the wickets in the middle of Dinesh Karthik run- out 7, Hardik Pandya ( 7 ), Axar Patel ( 7 ) .
Ravichandran Ashwin towards the end hit some crucial runs . Ashwin hit 1 for and a 6 in his 6 ball 13 not out . It was to prove decisive at the end. India finished at 184/ 6 in their 20 overs.
For Bangladesh , Taskin Ahmed was impressive 0/ 15 ( 4 overs), Shoriful Islam 0/57 ( 4 overs) was hammered. Hasan Mahmud 3/ 47 ( 4 overs) , Mustafizur Rahman 0/ 31 ( 4 overs) , Skipper Shakib Al Hasan was spot on in his 2/ 33 ( 4 overs)
Chasing an imposing total, Bangladesh were positive from the start. Litton Das was sensation in his 27 ball 60, with 7 fours and three sixes. . 66 for no loss in 7 overs, then the heavens opened up . Das was run-out by a brilliant throw from the the deep by K L Rahul. It opened the floodgates as India bounced back with regular wickets soon after.
A brilliant performance after the rain break from India ⚡
India are #InItToWinIt@royalstaglil | #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/fa6kAAoMep
— ICC (@ICC) November 2, 2022
Needing 151 in 16 overs as per the revised target after a brief spell of rain, Bangladesh managed 145/6 . Barring Das others struggled Najmul Hossain Shanto ( 21) , Skipper Shakib Al Hasan ( 13) , Afif Hossain ( 3), Yasir Ali ( 1), Nurul Hasan not out 25 tried hard and Taskin Ahmed 12 not out could not get the tigers over the line.
Needing 20 off last over, young Arshdeep Singh showed ice-cool temperament despite Nurul Hasan hitting him for a six and four as he bowled couple of perfect yorker length deliveries to seal the tie.
For India, Arshdeep Singh 2/ 38 ( 4 overs) kept his nerve in the final over. Bhuvneshwar Kumar 0/ 27 ( 3 overs) , Mohammed Shami 1/ 25 ( 3 overs) , Ravichandran Ashwin 0/ 19 ( 2 overs), Axar Patel o/6 ( 1 over), Hardik Pandya 2/ 28 ( 3 overs)
India go on top of the Group 2 table with three wins 🔝#T20WorldCup Standings 👉 https://t.co/cjmWWRz68E pic.twitter.com/D7pFFGhHud
— ICC (@ICC) November 2, 2022
In a tournament where rain has spelt havoc, India, who now have six points from four games, will need to beat Zimbabwe in their last Super-12 match to clinch a last four place.
