PUNE, Oct 19:
The legend Virat Kohli continued to grow exponentially as he reached within handshaking distance of Sachin Tendulkar’s world record of 49 hundreds during India’s walk-in-the-park seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh in a World Cup game on Thursday.
Kohli, who plans 50-over chases with a precision of a surgeon, remained unbeaten on 103 off 97 balls as India knocked off the 258-run target with as many as 51 balls remaining. India have now make it four wins out of four games and one more win would virtually put them in semi-finals.
While Kohli hit six fours and four sixes, it was his exemplary running between the wickets in pursuit of his 48th hundred that would be etched in the memory for the longest time.
But credit should also go to Ravindra Jadeja (2/38 in 10 overs) and Jasprit Bumrah (2/41 in 10 overs), who were exemplary covering all bases in absence of Hardik Pandya, who hobbled off the field after twisting his left ankle.
“Sorry for stealing it (the player of the Match award) from Jaddu. I wanted to make a big contribution. Have made fifties in World Cups, wanted to finish it off this time,” Kohli said after the match.
While skipper Rohit Sharma (48 off 40 balls) and Shubman Gill (53 off 55 balls) added 88 in just 12.4 overs to set up the chase, it was a cakewalk for Kohli at a venue, with which he shares an intimate relation.
If Rohit rattled the Bangladeshis with an all-out attack, Kohli bled them with thousand cuts, running those twos in the 90s with effortless ease, another testimony to his fitness.
Earlier, as has been the case with each of India’s opponents in the World Cup so far, scoring runs against arguably the best bowling attack in the competition proved a big ask for Bangladesh too, who managed a modest 256/8 on a batting-friendly surface. In fact, Bangladesh squandered a terrific start which had them placed formidably at 90 for no loss after 14 overs, but India’s bowling once again came to fore on a featherbed here. (PTI)
SCOREBOARD
Bangladesh:
Tanzid Hasan lbw Kuldeep 51
Litton Das c Gill b Jadeja 66
Najmul Hossain Shanto lbw Jadeja 8
Mehidy Hasan Miraz c Rahul b Siraj 3
Towhid Hridoy c Gill b Thakur 16
Mushfiqur Rahim c Jadeja b Bumrah 38
Mahmudullah b Bumrah 46
Nasum Ahmed c Rahul b Siraj 14
Mustafizur Rahman not out 1
Shoriful Islam not out 7
Extras (LB-1, W-5) 6
Total: (For Eight Wickets In 50 overs) 256
Fall of Wickets: 1-93, 2-110, 3-129, 4-137, 5-179, 6-201, 7-233, 8-248.
Bowling: Jasprit Bumrah 10-1-41-2, Mohammed Siraj 10-0-60-2, Hardik Pandya 0.3-0-8-0, Virat Kohli 0.3-0-2-0, Shardul Thakur 9-0-59-1, Kuldeep Yadav 10-0-47-1, Ravindra Jadeja 10-0-38-2.
India:
Rohit Sharma c Towhid Hridoy b Hasan Mahmud 48
Shubman Gill c Mahmudullah b Mehidy Hasan Miraz 53
Virat Kohli not out 103
Shreyas Iyer c Mahmudullah b Mehidy Hasan Miraz 19
KL Rahul not out 34
Extras: (W-2, NB-2) 4
Total: 261/3 in 41.3 overs
Fall of wickets: 88-1, 132-2, 178-3
Bowling: Shoriful Islam 8-0-54-0, Mustafizur Rahman 5-0-29-0, Nasum Ahmed 9.3-0-60-0, Hasan Mahmud 8-0-65-1, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 10-0-47-2, Mahmudullah 1-0-6-0.
TODAY’S FIXTURE
Pakistan Vs Australia at Bangalore (2.00 PM)
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