Colombo, Sep 15 (UNI) Shakib Al Hasan and Mohammad Towhid Hridoy’s formidable partnership of 101 runs off 115 balls propelled Bangladesh to 265/8 against India in an inconsequential Super 4 match at R Premadasa Stadium here on Friday.
Captain Shakib almost made run-a-ball 80 off 85 deliveries.
In reply, India were 174/6 in 37.4 overs with Shubman Gill carrying the burden on his shoulders to see India through as he cracked a valiant century against Bangladesh bowlers who were right at the top.
India needed 92 off 70 balls with 4 wickets in hand.
Gill cracked his century in 117 balls with 6 boundaries and 4 sixes. India need him to see them through as Axar Patel is giving him company at the other end.
Before Axar walked in, Ravindra Jadeja was cleaned up for a nothing shot off Mustifizur Rahman for 7.
India began the run chase poorly with Rohit (0) getting caught by Anamul Haque at cover-point in the second ball of India’s innings, giving Tanzim Hasan Sakib his maiden ODI wicket.
Tanzim had his second wicket in his very next over by cleaning up Tilak Varma (5) as he tried to leave the ball, but an inswinging ball crashed into his stumps, imprinting a puzzled look on his face.
KL Rahul walked in and stitched a 57-run partnership with Gill for third wicket, before the wicketkeeper-batsman made 19 off 39 balls with 2 boundaries, reducing India to 74/3 in 17.1 overs.
After adding 20 runs, Ishan Kishan departed after scoring 5 off 15 balls, trapped leg before off Mehidy.
Suryakumar Yadav was getting into his groove along with Gill, but fell to a premeditated mis-sweep as ball clipped his off-stump for 26 off 34 balls with 3 boundaries.
India won the toss and captain Rohit Sharma announced significant changes in his side’s lineup for this encounter. Inclusion of Tilak Varma made headlines after receiving his ODI cap.
Though not a part of the World Cup squad initially, Tilak’s impressive performances in T20Is had caught the attention of the selectors, prompting them to provide him with some valuable match practice in case of squad changes due to injuries.
India underwent a total of five changes for this game. Resting key players like Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, and Jasprit Bumrah, the team introduced Tilak Varma, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur, Prasidh Krishna, and Suryakumar Yadav into the playing XI.
Bangladesh’s opening batsmen, Tanzid Hasan and Liton Das, were dismissed early, providing India with a perfect start.
Anamul Haque also fell quickly, managing only 4 runs off 11 balls. However, a partnership between Mehidy Hasan Miraz and skipper Shakib, worth 31 runs from 50 balls, allowed Bangladesh to recover. Their partnership was eventually broken when Indian skipper Rohit Sharma took an excellent catch to dismiss Miraz, who had scored 13 runs off 28 balls.
After building a formidable partnership between Shakib and Hridoy, Shardul provided India with a breakthrough. Right after the drinks break, Thakur took the crucial wicket of Bangladesh’s skipper Shakib who departed after falling 20 runs short of a century.
Shamim Hossain was dismissed for just 1 run off 5 balls by Ravindra Jadeja, who became the 14th player in ODI history, and the only Indian after Kapil Dev to achieve 2,000 runs and 200 wickets double in ODIs.
Hridoy played a valuable innings of 54 runs off 81 balls, helping Bangladesh reach a challenging total.
India’s bowlers put up an impressive performance, with Mohammad Shami taking 2 wickets for 32 runs, Shardul claiming 3 wickets for 65 runs, and Prasidh Krishna contributing 1 wicket for 43 runs.
