Birmingham, July 2: Rohit Sharma’s dream run with the bat and Jasprit Bumrah’s brilliance at the death helped India beat Bangladesh by 28 runs to clinch a semi-final berth in the ongoing ICC World Cup here today.
It was Rohit’s (104 off 92 balls) record-equalling fourth century in a single edition and his 180-run opening stand with K L Rahul (77 off 92 balls) that laid the foundation for a par-score of 314 for nine after India opted to bat.
The chase wasn’t impossible but Shakib Al Hasan (66 off 74 balls) didn’t get any notable support from the other end as Bangladesh were bundled out for 286 in 48 overs.
But Mohammed Shaifuddin’s 51 not out off 39 balls did raise slim hopes of a victory before Bumrah (4/55), with his toe-crushers, dashed Bangladesh’s optimism.
Hardik Pandya (3/60 in 10 overs) also showed that his worth in limited overs with his display with the ball.
India with 13 points from eight games will now hope to beat Sri Lanka in their final game and finish on top with 15 points, in case Australia (14 from 8 games) lose their last league match against South Africa.
Bangladesh can go up to maximum nine points if they beat Pakistan but their last four hopes were dashed as Australia, India, New Zealand (11 from 8 games) and England (10 points from 8) are already above them.
Ironically, on a day when Rohit’s record 26th ODI hundred ensured a seventh semi-final appearance for his side, Bangladesh were left high and dry despite Shakib’s coveted record double of 500 plus runs and 10 plus wickets in a single edition of the World Cup.
For Indian bowlers, it was another good day in office after English nightmare as Yuzvendra Chahal (1/50 off 10 overs) found his mojo back with a controlled effort while Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/51 in 9 overs) also bowled a steady first spell in the company of ever-reliable Bumrah.
Shakib also couldn’t play in his free-flowing manner as there wasn’t a single half-century stand for the first five wickets.
Sabbir Rahaman (36) and Saifuddin added 66 for the seventh wicket but Bumrah, coming on for his third spell, ended their hopes.
Earlier, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s (35 off 33 balls) another failure at the death saw India score only 63 runs in the last 10 overs after Rohit’s 26th ODI century and Rishabh Pant’s (48 off 40 balls) flamboyance had taken India to 251 for 4 in 40 overs.
Rohit’s love affair with Bangladesh continued as he had also scored his first World Cup ton in the previous edition in Australia and another century in the 2017 Champions Trophy semi-final at this very Edgbaston ground against the same opposition.
There were no marks for guessing that Virat Kohli would have opted to bat and Rohit along with Rahul added 180 for the opening wicket to set up the platform.
En route his ton, that had seven fours and five sixes, Rohit also equalled Kumar Sangakkara’s record of four tons in a single edition of the World Cup, having already registered scores of 122 not out (vs South Africa), 140 (vs Pakistan) and 102 (vs England) in earlier games.
Mashrafe Mortaza started the proceedings but pulled himself out after solitary over as Rohit hit first of his five sixes — a pull-shot on the shorter side.
Rohit enjoyed a reprieve on a personal score of nine when Tamim Iqbal, at deep mid-wicket, dropped a sitter off Mustafizur Rahman (5/59 in 10 overs). (PTI)
SCOREBOARD
India Innings:
Lokesh Rahul c Rahim b Rubel 77
Rohit Sharma c Liton Das b Soumya Sarkar 104
Virat Kohli c Rubel b Mustafizur 26
Rishabh Pant c Mosaddek Hossain b Shakib 48
Hardik Pandya c Soumya Sarkar b Mustafizur 0
MS Dhoni c Shakib b Mustafizur 35
Dinesh Karthik c Mosaddek Hossain b Mustafizur 8
Bhuvneshwar Kumar run out (Rahim/Mustafizur) 2
Mohammed Shami b Mustafizur 1
Jasprit Bumrah not out 0
Extras: (LB-6,W-6,NB-1) 13
Total: (For 9 wickets in 50 Overs) 314
Bowling: Mashrafe Mortaza 5-0-36-0, Mohammad Saifuddin 7-0-59-0, Mustafizur Rahman 10-1-59-5, Shakib Al Hasan 10-0-41-1, Mosaddek Hossain 4-0-32-0, Rubel Hossain 8-0-48-1, Soumya Sarkar 6-0-33-1.
Bangladesh Innings:
Tamim Iqbal b Shami 23
Soumya Sarkar c Kohli b Hardik Pandya 33
Shakib Al Hasan c Kaarthik b Hardik Pandya 66
Mushfiqur Rahim c Shami b Chahal 24
Liton Das c Karthik b Hardik Pandya 22
Mosaddek Hossain b Bumrah 3
Shabir Rahman b Bumrah 36
Mohammad Saifuddin not out 51
Mashrafe Murtaza c Dhoni b Buvneshwar 8
Rubel Hossain b Bumrah 9
Mustafizur Rahman b Bumrah 0
Extras: (B-1 LB-1,W-10) 12
Total: (For 10 wickets in 48 Overs) 286
Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 9-0-51-1, Jasprit Bumrah 10-1-55-4, Mohammad Shami 9-0-68-1, Yuzvendra Chahal 10-0-50-1, Hardik Pandya 10-0-60-3.
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